Viridian Fall
by Raven the Ravenous
Summary: Cancelled
1. Unrequited Love

_My first chapter Pokefict. I want it to be good and long because I have lots of ideas for this story and its really the one Pokefict I have decided to work on. The first chapter's really short but originally it was long so be glad you may not have to read so many pages._

**A/N: For those who are seeing this fic finally updated, you'll noticed upon looking over the previous chapters, I've revised them. I've taken out the onomatopoeia (damn that's so hard to spell…) to make the fic more…ficcy. Sides, they made my fics feel dumb as I'm sure you guys can imagine the sounds for yourself rather than me putting them up.**

_Disclaimer: Pokemon was created by Satoshi Tajiri, whom I read on his bio on Wikipedia that the idea came from in his childhood when he was collecting insects. If I may have said this incorrectly or was wrong completely, which I can seriously trust my mind on this, tell me. I'd rather not make a fool of myself. Thank you. And there is nothing wrong with bug collecting. If I could, I'd find a praying mantis and a bug for it to fight._

**Viridan Fall **

**Chapter 1: Unrequited Love**

The girl walked up the stairs, her footsteps sounding softly up. She walked over to the door down the right, past the guest room which was to the left of where she was headed to. The room in question belonged to her friend, her best friend to be exact. She stopped before the door, hearing a faint sound on the other side. She pressed her ear close to the door, as she could hear him sleeping still. She smiled. "Typical of him."

She opened the door and shut it though she was careless and it closed shut loudly. She flinched then half-expected him to get up suddenly or to do something…idiotic. When the coast was clear, she walked up to him.

His chest was rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. He had changed in the last six years they had known each other. His messy hair had grown a little longer, making him a bit more handsomer. His arms were averagely buff due to the rigorous training he had put his Pokemon and himself through. His legs too were flexed from the training he had been doing while she was at the gym challenging Trainers daily.

She couldn't help but smile. She had feelings for this boy and had hoped to express them but whenever she got the chance, something happens to prevent it. She felt as if life were mocking her but it just happened to be a really unlucky coincidence. Though she was partially glad that he didn't know. She wasn't sure how much he had matured or if he had at all. "It doesn't matter, all he cares about are Pokemon and achieving his dream. I'm…just a friend. That's all I am."

She pulled a chair and was unsure whether to caress his messy hair.

"Just for a while…"

She reached her hand out and knelt down by the bed, gazing at the sleeping boy's face. He really had matured, physically speaking. She carefully ran her hand through his hair, stopping midway when he stirred. "…!"

He didn't wake. She breathed a sigh of relief before running her hand through his raven hair again. She saw his peaceful, content expression. She looked at him. "How in the world did I ever fall for you?" she mused. She smiled. "I guess…this is what they call fate…?"

She then thought about kissing him but mentally slapped herself. That would warrant the loss of their friendship for sure if she did that. She removed her hand slowly from his hair before getting up and walking out of the room. She closed the door carefully, unbeknownst to a certain yellow mouse that had witnessed everything.

* * *

It was 7:00, the raven haired boy was still asleep, snoring away. Downstairs, the reddish haired woman watched the ginger haired girl wash the dishes and bowls of the Pokemon. Delia Ketchum welcomed all friends of her son, but of the one she felt connected most with, it was Misty. The Cerulean Gym Leader was a huge help around whenever she came by, mostly to escape her gym duties, the end result of having to go back to defend the family gym's honor. To Delia, it was always a pleasure to have the girl around.

"So, Misty dear, how long will you be staying here?"

The girl finished the dishes and placed them into the dish holders before turning to the woman. "For about a week, then I have to go back. I tried to get a month but--"

"Oh now dear, I wouldn't want you to neglect your responsibilities." she spoke up. Misty nodded and walked over to sit with her. The two women had grown close, forming a mother-daughter bond. "By the way," as Delia sipped her tea. "Have you waken Ash yet?"

Misty looked at her suddenly then shook her head. "No. He looked so peaceful sleeping that I couldn't wake him."

The woman smiled. She looked to the side, out of the transparent door that led to her garden. "It's been so long since I could remember Ash sleeping so peacefully. The last time I could remember was before he had left on the first day of his journey. I could remember when I told him time and time again to go to bed." as she laughed at the memory. Misty giggled, knowing why it was that he couldn't sleep that night.

"By the way, I think it's time to wake him up?" Delia said, as Misty nodded and stood up.

"I'll do it, Mrs. Ketchum." she said as before she could walk out of the kitchen, a loud electrical sound followed by a boy's pained cries sounded throughout the house. The women smiled, knowing that his _alarm clock _finally activated.

About ten minutes later, the young man walked to the kitchen and soon his nose caught something. "What's that?" he asked, as his nose led him to the plate of pancakes. Misty grinned at him.

"So you're finally awake, Mr. Pokemon Master-in-Training? I trust the _alarm_ went off at just the right…moment?" she said, winking at the yellow mouse that was standing by his side. The mouse understood it.

"Yeah, whatever. So, Mom, did you make those pancakes?" he asked, taking his seat at the table. Delia shook her head.

"No, Misty did."

"FWAH!?" he retorted stupidly, his mouth full of pancakes.

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" Misty snapped, the mallet on Ash's head. Delia watched to the two teens beginning to argue over the stupidest of things, as she smiled at the thought.

"_They'll never admit it but deep down, they really care about each other…" _as she looked at the three Pokemon. "Right Mimey, Pikachu, Azurill?"

The baby Pokemon squeaked happily, as the mouse gave a smile while Mimey smiled and nodded.

* * *

"Okay Mom, we're going to Prof. Oak's to pick up my Pokemon. C'mon Misty!" he said, rushing out the door with Pikachu right behind. 

"H-Hold on Ash! Wait for me!" she shouted, running after him with Azurill in her arms. Delia watched from the door as the two teens ran down the road to Samuel's lab as she couldn't help but laugh happily.

"Haha, those two."

* * *

Ash reached the door of Oak's Lab as he stopped to catch his breath and knock on the door. 

A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal a gray haired old man wearing a red shirt, brown pants and the signature white lab coat. "Ash, you came just in time!" he exclaimed.

Misty caught up to him. "Ash! Why do you always have to burst off like that? Huh, Prof.?"

The old researcher turned to her as well. "Misty. Listen, can you two come inside?"

They walked in, as they went into the living room. It still looked the same from when they were last in there, just a few modifications here and there, as Ash looked around. "Hey, where's Tracey, Prof.?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to tell you. I had recently sent Tracey down to Viridian City to deliver a package to a fellow colleague of mine, Prof. Flowen but I haven't heard from him since. I want you two to go and check to see if nothing's happened to both him and package. Last I recall, he called from the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. Well, off you go and call me once you've found Tracey. I asked him to buy me a box of chocolates while he was there." the Prof. said. Ash turned to him.

"Uh, why do you want chocolate for?" he asked.

But the old man was already gone, probably on research on one of his Pokemon. Ash then went to go find the old man about needing to make changes to his team.

"Prof."

"What, you're still here?"

"Ehehe, I want to switch my Pokemon around a bit."

Prof. Oak nodded, getting up from doing the work that Tracey usually did as the three walked over to the storage center. Oak turned to him. "All of your Pokemon from Sinnoh are in here. Which ones would you like to leave behind?" he asked. Ash thought about it, before one of the Pokemon from outside came rushing towards him.

"BAY!"

Bayleef was quickly on top him, happy to see her Trainer again.

"Whoa! B-Bayleef, it's great to see ya again just yesterday!" he exclaimed as the Pokemon nuzzled herself onto his chest. Misty smiled at the Pokemon.

"Hi Bayleef."

The Pokemon immediately turned to glare at her, suspecting her as competition for Ash. She lost her focus feeling Ash pat her head. "Say, I have an idea, how about if you come with me this time? Oh and so is Cyndaquil," as the fire mouse-like Pokemon spoke his name out in joy upon being called.

"Is that all Ash? Because I'm a very busy researcher." the old man said. He had never felt so deprived of his personal life until now. Ash shook his head.

"I want to leave Staraptor here. Let's see, I'll have Pikachu Buizel, Bayleef, Cyndaquil, and Swellow with me. Speaking of Swellow," as he turned to face the skies, "SWELLOW!"

"Swellow!" the swallow cried out in hearing her name and perched on his outstretched arm. Ash saw remnants of chocolate on her beak before Misty watched him draw out a familiar handkerchief and wiped it.

"Phew, good, she was eating my supply of chocolate so that's safe, for now." the old researcher said. Then he noticed that Ash had one empty Pokeball left. "There's room for one more."

Ash thought hard before a certain Ground type tackled him hard to the floor. "Ow…oh, hey there Donphan! Okay, I've decided to take Donphan with me!"

He gave the ball containing Staraptor to the Prof. while calling Bayleef, Cyndaquil, and Donphan into their respective Pokeballs. When he was set, Ash turned to Misty. "Ya ready?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

As the ship sailed into the town port, a man dressed in mostly black stepped off the board among several others as his midnight colored eyes scanned the Kanto region.

"I never thought…I'd come back here…" he said, his dark hair blowing in the breeze.

---

_To be honest, this is what I was able to muster. Somewhere halfway through the Oak's lab paragraph, I lost my train of thought and when I came back, this came up. I'll try to plan out each chapter so I don't end up making it stupid and boring to get really bad reviews. Also, the port my OC came on is the port where Ash supposedly left on to go to Hoenn and Sinnoh, if he did use the same port? Anyways, give me a good first review folks!_

**A/N: For those of you who've been reading this already, I've decided to make a few…modifications and changes such as the Pokemon roster but fear not, I have not abandoned this fic!** **Let's see, Ash's team here is now: Pikachu, Buizel, Bayleef, Cyndaquil, Swellow, and Donphan. Pretty versatile. Oh yeah, I remembered getting reviews either from this fic or another fic about the scene changes. So, by the stroke of luck, I discovered the horizontal lines...which had been on this site from the very start... ¬¬**


	2. Towards the New Horizon

_The beginning was short because it had to be. I said last chapter that I had originally intended it to be long but well, I didn't want you guys to fall asleep or something, not that I think you do, do you!? -presses face to screen- Ahem, well, just to make this clear, I do not and will never own Pokemon but if I did…hehehe, I'd keep Misty in the group for sure throughout all of the seasons, provided if I pay the voice actor of her. Also, Ash would mature slowly over time. I heard Ash's new VA. It's just not the same._

**A/N: Yup, revised. I told you in the first chapter. Anyways, those of you reading this again just to figure out what the heck's been going on in VF, I've done a slight change to Misty. Yes, her hair as you can see, I can't really imagine it long because well, it'd feel as if I'd have to change her character a bit as well. But I do like long hair Misty, I do! I just had no idea that the reason she appeared to have long hair was because of a clip-on in those episodes. So Misty still has her trademark hair. I can't get rid of a trademark now can I?**

**Viridian Fall **

**Chap. 2: Towards the New Horizon**

Ash looked around as the both of them walked along the road. Route 1 hasn't changed since he had last walked it. His eyes then wandered riskily to Misty, whom seemed to not notice them. Although it had been almost a year since they had seen each other, it felt like a thousand since. She had changed in the one year to his surprise. She wore an outfit that seemed like a combination of her old and recent clothes. The top had blue buttons at the top, which was sleeveless with collars. but it was not the usual suspenders she used to wear back when they traveled together, blue shorts that had a white buckle and orange sneakers as he slowly looked up at her figure. She had really changed in the past year, appearing more, what was the word? Well, he couldn't think of the word but he was certain she was that. Her hair was tied up in that trademark style of hers but he really wished that she would let it down. When he looked at her eyes, he soon felt this strange feeling hit him hard. Misty turned to him with a confused look on her face.

"Ash, is something wrong?"

"!"

He turned his head away quickly, hiding his blush. "U-Uh, n-no!" as he quickly changed the subject. "So I wonder what it is that Prof. Oak wanted Tracey to deliver?" he said, glad to change the subject.

"Yeah, I wonder why Tracey hasn't called? Oh no," as she clasped her hand over her mouth. "Did something terrible happen to him!?"

Ash gave her a look that meant, 'What the heck are you talking about?' as she turned to him. She told him about how Kanto had recently become a bit more dangerous while he was gone due to Team Rocket. "Oh, so you're saying that Team Rocket aren't gonna sit around any longer and watch us stop them?" as he thought about how worried she was over Tracey. "_Don't tell me that she--"_

"Ash, are you even listening to me!?"

He nodded, though he wondered since when did Team Rocket begin taking drastic measures? He turned to her as they continued walking, unbeknownst to two old faces watching them from a distance.

"What do you know? It's that black haired twerp and his Pikachu." the blonde said. Her partner, a teal haired man peered through his binoculars as well.

"Yeah and he's with that redheaded twerp too!" as the blonde suddenly got something mischievous up her sleeves. She turned to her partner.

"Butch, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The teal haired man's ears perked up. "Wait, what did you say?"

"I said, Bootch are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

The man frowned at that. "Cassidy!"

"I was just joking, Butch, jeez, can't you take a joke. Anyways, like I said before…"

"About them…?" he asked, catching on. She smirked and nodded.

"That's right. Just imagine how stoked the Boss would be if we brought two of the most annoying twerps ever to ruin ours and Team Rocket's operations?"

Butch thought about it and he returned it with a grin. "I see where you're going, Cassidy."

* * *

"Say Misty."

"Huh?"

Ash had to point it out. It was bugging him in his head for a while since they had left. "Where's your bike?"

"M-My bike?" "_He knows!" _as she turned forward to avoid eye contact. Ash could suspect something was up but he wanted to know.

"Yeah, your bike. You didn't walk to Pallet Town, did you?" he asked, as she turned her head to him.

"Wh-Whaa? What are you say--"

He stopped suddenly, as Pikachu stepped in front of him. Misty stopped as well, seeing the two figures in front of them. "Cassidy,"

"And Botch."

"IT'S BUTCH! BUTCH DAMN IT!" the Rocket snapped. Ash rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever."

Ash pointed at them. "Whaddya want? Are you gonna follow me like Jessie, James, and Meowth did!?" "_Why can't I ever get a break from Team Rocket for crying out loud?"_

The blonde woman cackled lightly. "Why, you're almost on the mark but you missed one thing," as she and Butch pointed at the two. "You two, are coming with us!"

Pikachu began to emit warning sparks, ready for a battle, as Misty quickly enlarged her Pokeball. Ash glared back at the two Rockets. "And…if we don't'?"

"Then we'll make you! Go, Mightyena!"

A hyena-like Pokemon appeared with black and grey fur, it's fearsome red eyes targeting Pikachu.

"Go, Houndoom!" Cassidy called.

The teens watched the black hound appear, baring its sharp white fangs, as Ash turned to Misty. He had a smirk on his face, certain that this will be a piece of cake.

"Go, Corsola!" Misty shouted, knowing she had the type advantage on Cassidy.

The grass blew with the breeze as the two Trainers and Rockets looked hard at each other. "Okay! Pikachu, start this off with a Quick Attack!"

Butch waved his hand. "Mightyena, counter it with Bite!"

The mouse struck hard into the hyena but the Dark type responded with a quick movement of the jaw. Luckily, the mouse had avoided it. "Houndoom, quickly, use Flamethrower on it!" Cassidy shouted.

"Corsola, use Mirror Coat in front of Pikachu!"

The pink coral Pokemon quickly defended the mouse, turning the attack back at Houndoom but due to the Flash Fire ability, it powered up it's Fire attacks, which was not good. "Corsola, Rain Dance!"

The coral creature summoned a rainstorm, as Cassidy glared at the ginger haired girl. "Houndoom, use Nasty Plot!"

The hound began to charge it's Spec. Atk in it's mind as Misty took the opportunity to attack it! "Quick Corsola, use Spike Cannon!"

The spikes were fired off at Houndoom up to four times before Cassidy turned to Butch. "Butch, how are you holding up?"

The Rocket was having trouble when it came to speed. But that was part of the plan. "Okay Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

The teal haired man's eyes flashed. "Sucker Punch!"

The hyena quickly struck the yellow rodent before it could attack, interrupting the attack and sending it accidentally towards Corsola! "Use Mirror Coat to deflect it back for double damage!"

The attack came back towards Pikachu! "Oh crap! Light Screen!"

As the attack was Electric plus the effects of Light Screen, Pikachu was not harmed quite as much and shook the attack off. He turned to Cassidy. With the rain still coming down, he knew what attack to use. "Pikachu, THUNDER!"

"Mightyena, use Payback!" Butch shouted, as the black and gray furred hyena rushed to the front of Houndoom, taking the brunt of the attack before rushing towards Pikachu and ramming straight into the mouse at double the force due to Payback's effect of the attack doubling if the user was hit before using the attack! Also, it was a physical attacks and what made matters more worse was when Rain Dance was over, Butch quickly shouted, "Use Taunt on that Corsola!"

"C-Corsola!"

The Pokemon was unable to use attacks that were not offensive, Cassidy shouted, "Use Sunny Day, Houndoom!"

Suddenly, the sun shone brightly down on them, Misty saw the effects of Light Screen still there. "_As long as Light Screen is still there, they won't be able to attack us with Special Attacks. But there's still the Physical Attacks we need to worry about…"_

Cassidy could still see the effects of Light Screen still lingering. She couldn't use her secret weapon yet until it was gone. So until then, "Houndoom, use Thunder Fang on that Corsola!"

"Th-Thunder Fang!?"

"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!"

"PIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Pikachu zipped at lightning speed, the force of the collision struck Houndoom hard, sending it rolling across the grass.

"H-Houndoom!"

"Corsola, use Ancientpower before it can attack!"

"Mightyena, use Take Down!" Butch shouted.

With a burst of speed, the hyena smashed straight into Corsola and despite the coral Pokemon's hard body, Corsola took a beating. "We can't lose."**

* * *

**

During the battle, the man had long left the port and was walking the Route 1 road when he saw the sparks from Pikachu's Thunderbolt coming back in the direction it came as he turned to the direction of the fight. "What in the world is going on?"

Wrapping his black cloak over him, he pulled the hat over his left eye and rushed off to find out the source.

Meanwhile, the Light Screen wore off, as Cassidy knew that Sunny Day would only last for one more turn but that was all she needed. She turned to Misty and Corsola. "You lose, Red! Houndoom, use Solarbeam!"

"S-Solarbeam!?"

"Pikachu, go and- AARGH!"

"ASH!"

Ash fell to the ground from the Tackle by Mightyena. Misty quickly shouted for Corsola to use Mirror Coat but Butch quickly ordered Mightyena to use Iron Tail, which was a Physical Attack and struck Corsola as Houndoom fired the attack off at it!

"NO! CORSOLA!"

"Quickly Grade, use Close Combat!"

Cassidy watched in absolute surprise as a Gallade appeared at the unknown voice's command, quickly clobbering her Pokemon into defeat with a series of sword strikes before it could unleash the attack! Butch quickly looked around when the voice then said again, "Zor, use X-Scissor!"

The red armored mantis flew out of nowhere, wings beating rapidly and powerfully, arms crossed as the pincers smashed hard into the hyena!

"Wh-What's going on?!" Ash said, slowly getting up. Misty looked around as with the gust of wind, a new figure appeared. It was the cloaked man wearing the crimson hat. He looked under his hat.

"I should've suspected you were behind this, Team Rocket!"

"Wh-Who are you!?"

The man removed his hat off his head, his dark locks falling out as his midnight colored eyes looked at them. "…..."

"Cassidy, I don't know about you but from the looks of what happened, I don't think we stand a chance against this guy!" Butch said. Cassidy nodded, hating that it was true.

"Alright Butch, we're leaving!" as they called back their Pokemon and retreated to the north. Ash and Misty quickly checked on their Pokemon as they turned to look at the mysterious man. The man called both Pokemon back into their respective Pokeballs without uttering a word.

"Thank you." Misty said. "But, who are you?"

The man turned his head to her. "Raven."

Ash walked up to him. "Well, Raven, I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!"

"I'm Misty, and thank you again for helping us out!" she said.

The man turned his head to the side. "I was…in the neighborhood." he said coolly.

"Uh, well, thanks again for helping us out!" Ash said. He turned to Misty. "C'mon Misty, we gotta get to Viridian City."

The man turned his head back to him. "Viridian City?"

"Yeah, we're going to check up on a friend."

"We're worried something may have happened to him."

Raven closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating on what to do. He opened them back and looked at them. "Do you mind if I join you?" he said finally.

"Of course not! The more the merrier, that's what I always say!"

Misty gave him a look. "Since when did you say that, just now?"

Ash gave her a narrow look before holding his hand out to Raven. "Welcome!"

The man didn't take it. "…Whatever." he said, walking north. Ash looked confused.

"What's with him?"

"I dunno but we can't stay here any longer, what if Team Rocket strikes again? Pikachu might not win this time." Misty said. The mouse didn't show signs of fatigue but he did know he needed the rest. Raven didn't stop walking as he turned his head to the two.

"Are you two done? If not, I won't mind at all leaving you behind." he said, as his attitude suddenly reminded Ash of Paul, his rival from Sinnoh.

"H-HEY! Come back here!" he shouted, running after him. Misty sighed.

"He's not gonna stop, Ash." as she soon realized that she was left behind. "W-Wait for me!"

---

_Okay, so I had to make some changes to my first chapter again. I'm very picky when it comes to grammar and such but if you see anything misspelled, I won't mind the correcting. Also, Raven is my own OC. As he is the second human character to join Ash, my intention was to put him there after many should I's and should I not's. Tracey will be in the next chapter. I can't say if Brock will be part of the group again but he will be in this story (Besides, he's had plenty of spotlight.) And I needed to say this but I did just research on the Internet, so if the characters didn't seem to match how they should have acted, then that's because I didn't watch the special episodes nor did I watch the Battle Frontier and Sinnoh Episodes. So sorry if the Pokemon aren't like they're supposed to be; I'm trying to interpret how they act after reading the stories of others, like Aipom and Buizel being traded between Ash and Dawn (yes I've taken that into account now) and Bayleef's affection for him. (which I find amusing) As for the hat, if you know Riley from Diamond and Pearl, just imagine the hat looking like that only mostly crimson and indigo striped._

_Well, review and I guess I couldn't really wait to post the second chapter. By the third, I'll wait until I get some reviews, if not I'll get to the fifth but if I don't have ten by then…I'm gonna have to pull the plug. Or I could just hit ten and then check back. My goal is to get ten before I continue so Pokeshippers, Contestshippers, and Ikarishippers, I suggest you read this and although the focus will be AAML, there will be some Egoshipping, Advanceshipping, and Pearlshipping just to make those fans happy, despite how much I dislike those pairings. Oh well, gotta try new things out just once? Also, I did my best to make Misty's new outfit by thinking hard and putting her original and Hoenn and mixing the two together. I suck at describing clothes so if you hate it, just imagine her in her Hoenn. Okay, that's it for this chapter. Chap. 3 will be done in hopefully, a week though I aim for three days: Today, Sunday, and Monday if I have time._

**A/N: Oh yes, another revision. After looking through pics of the Pkmn Chronicles episodes and in the Luvdisc episode, I saw Misty with an outfit that could've been what she could've worn on her stay in Pallet Town though I do like the Hoenn one just the same. I guess I could understand why she wore her Hoenn clothes rather than the I've decided to change the nicknames of Raven's Pokémon to know them easily and the nickname of Gallade may seem strange but believe me: Gal, Lade? Oh no, I don't wanna have any raised brows here so that's why I didn't pick them. Glade would've been nice but Grade sounds more fitting (and cool). And Zor…I don't really need to explain what Pokémon looks like a 'red mantis' now do I?**


	3. Oak's Admonishment

_I'm back and I need to point out some changes. Don't groan, it's not like I did anything bad or did I? Never mind, I haven't an idea why I'm talking like this! Anyways, Raven's hat is going to be similar to Riley's hat but not exactly like it. I wanna be original here and Raven's character is going to play a huge part later on in the story. As for what he wears under that cloak of his, that's gonna have to wait…_

**A/N: Revised again. Believe me, I hate repeating this but this is for heads up to those who're reading this cuz they've forgotten what's happened.**

_Disclaimer: Jeez you Nintendo jerks! (Gomenasai Tajiri-sensei and Miyamoto-sensei; everyone else, leave me alone!) I don't own Pokemon, although I wish I did… -has a look of greed on his face- But I don't. Only the character's you've never seen in the Pokemon episodes that appear in here are rightfully mine. I came up with the ideas (some were inspired) and the others were originally mine. Wait, didn't I just say that? Bah, onto the story!_

**Viridian Fall**

**Chapter 3: Oak's Admonishment**

The three entered the city of Viridian, as Ash and Misty stopped to take a rest. Raven just walked by them, not seeming tired, as he had walked all the way over here. But the pace at which he walked, it seemed like he was running almost.

"Okay, now we need to find Tracey."

"Tracey?" the man asked, turning to the boy. Misty explained to him.

"Tracey's a friend of ours. He's Prof. Oak's assistant and Prof. Oak asked us to come here to check up on him to see if he's okay."

Raven tipped his hat down, the brim hiding the left side of his face. "Well then, where is your friend?"

"He should be at a Pokemon Center nearby. If not then--"

Before Ash could finish his sentence, a man wearing a white suit and tie and black shirt bumped into him, knocking the boy down. The well-dressed man had blonde hair slightly longer that was tied down in a ponytail. His blue eyes looked down to see Ash, as he got down to his level. "I'm sorry, young man. Do you need a hand?"

"Nah, that's okay." Ash said, getting up. He stood back on his feet, dusting his clothes. The blonde haired gentleman appeared to be about Raven's age, he held a white suitcase in his right hand.

"Aah, yes, I have a meeting to attend. Hmm, what have we here?" he said, walking past Ash, towards Misty. "Hello, aren't you a charming lady? May I ask for your name?" he asked, kissing her hand the gentlemanly way. Misty felt the kiss and she felt really abashed by his gentleness.

"U-Umm…M-Misty!" she stammered. The blonde man felt someone tapping his shoulder.

"Eh hem. Just who do you think you are?" Ash spoke up from behind. The man turned to look at him with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, I didn't know she was your sweetheart?" he said, referring to the two teens as they completely reddened. Raven, whom was new to the two still, looked at them stoically.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking as if he were more interested in the fly buzzing around than their truly embarrassed faces.

They laughed off what the blonde man said nervously. "Ahahahaha, no, w-we're just best friends, r-right M-Misty?"

"Y-Yeah, th-the best of f-f-friends!" she exclaimed bashfully.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. It's just you both seemed like you were already going steady?"

This only served to deepen their embarrassment. Raven was getting sick and tired of this man. He never did like him at all, not one bit. "If you're done humiliating people then I suggest you leave. After all, don't you have a meeting to get to?" he said in a cold tone.

The man looked at him suspiciously. Raven returned it with a glare. He turned to the teens. "I must leave now. Until we meet again, my young friends." he spoke, bowing gentlemanly. They didn't know what to think of him then.

When he walked past Raven, the dark haired cloaked man gave him dark narrow glare while the blonde man walked by, a dark smirk on his face. "……"

After that incident the three walked towards the Center. Ash turned to look at Raven, who seemed to be deep in thought while looking at Misty, the girl seemed somewhat perturbed from what had just happened. "Hey, Misty."

"Huh?"

"Something wrong?" he asked, worried about her expression. She nodded.

"Yeah. That man… There was something about him I didn't like when he kissed my hand."

"You mean other than his manners towards you?" Raven asked. The girl nodded. "We don't have time to stand around here. Aren't you both going to see your friend or not?"

The two teens quickly looked at each other then back at him. "You're right!"

* * *

When they arrived at the Center, they walked through the automatic doors to search for their friend. Ash went over to Nurse Joy. "Nurse Joy, have you seen our friend Tracey here?"

"Oh, Tracey? I think he's in his room sleeping?"

Ash and Misty's jaws dropped wide open. "HE'S WHAT!?" Raven closed them back up without even looking.

"Sleeping huh?"

Suddenly, footsteps came down as a more awake Tracey Sketchit appeared from the hallways. "Afternoon guys."

Ash walked over to him, Misty following him. The boy too was curious as to why the assistant never called back. "We thought something happened to you? Why didn't you call Prof. Oak?"

"Oh, uh…well, I guess, I kind of got tired and decided to rest here until Prof. Flowen came." as Misty's ears perked.

"Did you say Prof. Flowen…?"

"Oh, you're a fan of his, huh?" Ash asked, wondering what this person looks like?

"Prof. Flowen is a renowned Pokemon Professor of Water Pokemon. He gained recognition at the age of 11 for his unsurpassed scientific mind and is the son of the late scientific mind and renown explorer." Raven concluded. Tracey gave the man a confused look. Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Misty had stars in her eyes.

"Oh yeah, this is Raven. He saved us from Cassidy and Butch while we were on our way here." as the man took no notice of the thanks the boy was trying to convey to him. Tracey held out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you Raven."

"……"

Tracey pulled his hand away. "…Okay." He turned to his two friends. "I take it Prof. Oak was worried sick about me huh? Better go and call him back at the Lab."

* * *

The screen showed a view of the lab but the professor in question was no where to be found, instead, a boy with walnut colored hair answered it. "Uh…hello?"

"Eh? Wh-Who is this? What did you do with Prof. Oak!?" Tracey nearly shouted. The raven haired boy was looking at Ash with wide eyes.

"Y-You're--"

"Vincent, who is it?"

Prof. Oak walked onto the screen as the four watched him turn to the boy. "I'll handle it, Vincent."

"Prof. Oak, who's that?" Ash asked.

"Eh hem! It's me, remember? Jackson from New Bark Town in the Johto region."

"Oh yeah," as Ash moved Tracey out of the way. "How's it goin' Jackson?!" he said. The two boys were quickly becoming reacquainted while Raven rolled his eyes. Prof. Oak had enough of the two as he shoved Jackson aside.

"So Tracey," the Prof. said, getting his assistant's attention. "Have you delivered the package to Prof. Flowen?" he asked. The assistant suddenly froze. He had forgotten.

"Uh…you see, about that Prof. Oak…I uh…"

"Hmm? Oh hold on, I got another call, wait a moment now, Tracey." as the screen blacked out. The assistant had a look that seemed like he's dead-meat. Ash and Misty exchanged looks while Raven appeared to look bored.

"You don't think he'll find out…do you?" he asked his two friends. Ash grinned.

"Well, even if he did, I doubt Prof. Oak would be mad at you--"

"Provided if he didn't know that you were sleeping on the job!" Misty finished, giggling.

"How mad can the Prof. get at you for sleeping on the job? Hmm, quite mad I'm guessing." Raven said, joining in on the friendly bashing. The watcher looked at his two friends and the man.

"H-Hey! A little backup here!"

Suddenly the screen went back up, as Prof. Oak was now holding a book in his hand. This caused Tracey to pale. Ash and Misty wondered what was wrong. Tracey then muttered something about book, Oak, mad, disappointment, and scolding.

"P-P-Prof. Oak!"

The old researcher closed his book after marking the page. He looked at Tracey. "Now Tracey, do you remember why I said that this package was…urgent?"

"Aahahaha! R-Really Prof., I didn't mean to forget! See, I got to Viridian City but when I came to where Prof. Flowen was staying, I found out that he had not come yet. So I went back to the Center, waiting for a call but…"

"You got tired and fell asleep, resulting in your missing to meet him and deliver him the package?" the expert authority on Pokemon said, shocking the three teens.

"P-P-Prof. I-I-I can explain!"

"Listen Tracey! It is very vital that you deliver the package to Prof. Flowen. Only he can tell us the real meaning behind it."

"What's he talking about Tracey?" Ash asked.

"What's the **it** Prof. Oak is mentioning?" Misty asked.

"Actually, I don't know…" Tracey answered them.

"You will know once you've delivered the package to him. Now, may I speak to Ash for a minute?"

The Watcher turned to Ash and let him in front of the screen. "What is it Prof. Oak?"

"I've already let your mother know that you're already going on another journey."

"But…I'm still in Kanto and there's been no news about a League or Tournament at all since I've come back?"

Hearing this gave Misty hope. Normally Ash would go to another new region or something other related to his dream of becoming the Pokemon Master.

Ash then became confused. "What do you mean another journey?"

"Well, seeing as how my _assistant_, failed to deliver the package and Prof. Flowen loves to travel from place to place in the blink of an eye, I've taken the liberty of seeing to it that you, Misty, and…"

"Raven."

The old man nodded. "Escort Tracey to Saffron City. That is where Prof. Flowen is presently."

"Y-You mean, I still have to go!?" Tracey asked. Ash chuckled.

"Well whaddya know? Our next stop's Saffron City!"

"Be careful now. Things in Kanto have been quite hectic lately." the Prof. warned. Misty looked at him quizzically.

"Hectic?"

"Team Rocket are becoming more vicious and darker by the second. Raven," as the man looked at the old researcher. "As you are the oldest here now, can I trust that you will watch over the three of them? I've heard of your battling repertoire so I am asking you to protect them from Team Rocket should they attack you."

Raven, seeing no other option as he joined up with Ash on his own to observe the growing Master-to-be, nodded. "Very well then. Consider it granted. But since I will be **babysitting**…" as Ash gave him an annoyed look. "I demand payment on my part once I am done." he said, making a motion of a single finger waving back and forth. Misty gave him a suspicious look.

"Yes, I know what you are, Raven. I will have the money ready when you're done." as Raven pulled his hat over his eyes and allowed the three teens to see him.

"Now, I've spoken with Prof. Flowen recently and he will wait three weeks. Twenty-one days only, no more, no less. If you miss him, he will be in Lavender Town for a whole month though I'd rather you get to him in Saffron City. Should you miss him then…he will be in Sootopolis City in Hoenn."

Ash looked at the old professor. "Prof. Oak, what is it that's so important we deliver the package to Prof. Flowen?"

"¡ ES MUY IMPORTANTE! Ahem, excuse my Spanish. Now, quickly! It takes fifteen days to travel to Saffron City, provided you rest once a while on the road.

"Okay Prof. Oak, you can count on us!" Ash said excitedly. Misty stood behind him and patted his shoulder.

"Tell Mrs. Ketchum not to worry and that I'll take good care of Ashy here!" she said.

"Yes and I promise Prof. Oak, I'll come back as soon as I'm done to help you at the Lab."

The old man nodded, appreciating his promise, as the screen finally blacked out, not without some loud crashes and bangs from inside the lab. "MUK! STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!"

The three teens smiled nervously as Tracey put the phone down. He turned to his three companions. "Well, next stop--"

"Saffron City!" Ash said, jumping up in the air.

"Shssssssssh!"

"Ow!" he said, rubbing his head. The old mallet has returned.

"You heard Nurse Joy, keep your voice down!" she hissed.

The two teens started to argue, while Tracey did his best to play the mediator in Brock's place. Raven sighed. "How did I get into this mess again?"

"PIKACHUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The next second, Ash and Misty were fried to a crisp, as Azurill squealed happily from the floor. "(Cool! Cool!)"

"( Chaaa! I guess some things NEVER change?)"

* * *

In walked the elite Rocket Duo, Cassidy and Butch. They stood in the office of the notorious Team Rocket Leader, Giovanni. He was sitting in his usual chair, his back to them. "Let me guess…you both were done in by those two _twerps_ as you call them?" he asked, not facing them still. Cassidy walked over to the desk, staying about a foot away, Butch too.

"It's not like that Boss. Someone else meddled in our affairs." as this caught Giovanni's attention but he did not turn still.

"Humor me, Cassidy."

"Well, I… You see…"

"This man wearing a black cloak and crimson hat appeared and defeated us!" Butch exclaimed. Giovanni quickly spun his chair to face them.

"What did you say?" he asked, interested now. "Black cloak, crimson hat…?" as the thought struck him. "Crimson hat… Hmm…" as he began to chuckle to himself.

"Uh, Boss, are you feeling well?"

Giovanni petted his pet Pokemon Persian as he placed his elbows on the table, his chin resting on top of his interlocked fingers while looking up at them. He ceased his soon-to-be diabolical laughter before looking back up at them. "I want you to continue following those two. Study them, find out what Pokemon they have, and find out their one weakness…"

That was when the two turned to each other with a knowing grin. "Well…we do know something about those two…something very…amusing…" they said in a pleased manner.

Giovanni grinned darkly. "I trust it has something to do with more than their…friendship?" he said, as the two nodded. Giovanni grinned. They had told him evidence, which he trusted because the never lied to him being his most loyal subjects, that the two had something going on between them than just friendship. But then Giovanni's thoughts went to Ash. Ash, the boy that had always stood in the way of Team Rocket's dreams from the day he had begun his journey.

"This boy is truly a gifted, skilled, and courageous Trainer." as he looked up at them. "He must be eliminated at all costs."

They understood, bowing to him before leaving the room. When the doors were closed, and Giovanni was certain they were gone, he stood up and had his back to the door. He was petting his Persian with a grace that seemed befitting of a good-hearted king but this was no good-hearted king. "Purrrrr…"

"Yes Persian, we will get him. That boy…he is unlike any I have ever seen yet I have not to meet him. He would make a fine Team Rocket member," as he continued petting the huge mountain lion-like Pokemon. His eyes twinkled with malice.

"But should he refuse to join me…" as his expression grew into an evil grin. He didn't need to finish. He soon began to laugh darkly, which soon became a bellow and the bellow became a malevolent laughter that echoed throughout the building and the area surrounding it…

---

_Okay, so I might've went a little nuts on Giovanni's character but he was the perfect villain for my story. Now if you ask me, I tried to keep Giovanni into character but in the end, this came up. _

_That's right! Ash, Misty, and Tracey are back (the Orange Islands group!) with a new companion, Raven. Some of you may think Raven may seem harsh but every character has a story as to why they're like that (Funny how we've never known about Tracey's story?) and I made Raven like that for a reason. He'll develop in time and is my main OC character whom will develop a kind of bond with Ash as the chapters roll. As for Ash and Misty, I want to keep those two in their usual way but have their relationship develop slowly, like a flower that blossoms beautifully in the spring. _

_I promise that chapter 4 will be good, I'm working on it right now as you're reading it! It might be long, as the ideas I've put for the summary of it are numerous._

**A/N: Revisions, revisions, revisions. It was just after reading this again, I realized that they're going to have to travel to Saffron City in twenty-one days! XD; Well, here's what I finally realized: I had nothing to keep track of the days so starting from the next chapter, I will mark the days until arrival. This isn't going to be some 24 with the timer ticking every time though --; And I don't even know if it takes fifteen days to get to Saffron City from Viridian City but this is fan fiction, I just come up with stuff as I go. Oh, I've edited out a part in the dialogue about Flowen's brief history. I have a reason. Interesting, I've repeated revisions twice? And I've just noticed this too?**


	4. Enter the Ice Blue

**A/N: Whoa…after looking at the chapter title…well, no I didn't change it and that's why it's still like that! But there was a slight dialogue I had to change and anything else that was related to it since I realized that one dialogue would force me to have to add another story into this already-planned-out-to-be-a-long-fic so I edited that out. Other than that the chapter's still the same. Oh yes and I got rid of the ridiculously long A/N's from the previous first ch. 4 and also decided NOT to do ANY of those ships: Ego, Advance, and Pearl. But eh, thing's change so keep an eye out anyways. I'm still a Pokeshipper so don't think I'm betraying Poke here. But like I said, keep a look out… I might just change my mind.**

**Viridian Fall**

**Chapter 4: Enter the Ice Blue **

**Day 2, Week 1**

-Route 1 theme-

"Aah, wow, I never knew Kanto was such a beautiful place! Now, I wonder where the next Gym is?"

The light blue haired girl wore a light blue tank-top with a pink jacket, purple miniskirt, yellow backpack, and sneakers with light blue and pink patterns. She pulled out a pink colored device that multi-functioned as many things: a watch, a calculator, a calendar, a memo pad, a pedometer, dowsing machine and etc. The device in question was the Poketch, but she was not a beginning Trainer. She had started her journey six years ago and had recently come to the Viridian Forest in Kanto. Only she had one problem.

"I'M LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!"

* * *

"I-I can't b-believe th-that w-we're back h-here again!"

Raven and Tracey turned to her then to Ash. "What's wrong with her, Ash?"

"A case of forest-phobia?" the man asked. Misty turned to him.

"No I do not have, uh, forest-phobia!"

"She's really freaked out by Bug Pokemon." Ash told the man. The man nodded.

"I see?"

"What do you mean _you_ see!?" she snapped, looking around edgily. Ash grinned to keep them all in good spirits.

"Relax Misty, if any Bug Pokemon happen by, I'll take care of it!"

"Y-You'd do that for me, Ash?" she asked, surprised by his word.

He nodded. She was happy inside but outside. "Um…thanks, I guess?"

Tracey watched the two, as Raven walked forward a bit before looking up through the leaves at the sky. He then turned his head to the three. "Prof. Oak said that Prof. Flowen would only wait for three weeks. It takes approximately 15 days to reach Saffron City, without much rest. We haven't got time to lose."

Tracey, whom was carrying the package nodded. "Raven's right. Let's get going. The Prof. did say that this was very important to deliver to Prof. Flowen."

As the two men walked on ahead, Misty slowed a bit to walk next to Ash. "Hey Ash, do you remember when we first came here, together?" she asked. Ash gave her a look before nodding.

"Yup, and I'll never forget it!"

* * *

_A ten year old boy walked through the forest with his trusted and only Pokemon on his shoulder. Behind him was a redhaired girl that seemed to follow him. Well, he did barbecue her bike the other day but like he said, it was an accident. The girl wouldn't rest until he paid back every single penny for the very, very, very, very, very expensive bike._

_"Why are you still following me!?" he said finally._

_"Because that bike is not at all cheap to buy!" she snapped back. Ash gave her a narrow look then walked forward while mumbling something. "What was that!?"_

_"I said if it wasn't for the bike, Pikachu and me wouldn't be here right now." he said, turning to her. Misty was taken aback. "So…thanks."_

_"Um…sure?"

* * *

_

_The ball moved a bit before it clicked, signaling a successful capture. Ash walked up to it and picked it up, his face grinning with glee. "YEAH! I caught me, a Caterpie!" he shouted, holding up two fingers that formed a 'V' sign. _

_"Pi Pikachu!"_

_Misty just blinked.

* * *

_

_"Hey, he really likes you," Ash said, looking at the caterpillar Pokemon. Misty was shaking uncontrollably as the caterpillar continuously tried to near her while she continued to move away, keeping about 3ft away as much as possible._

_"KEEP THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!!" she shrieked. Ash watched as the caterpillar suddenly saddened. _

_"Huh? Caterpie?"_

_The poor bug, hurt by Misty's outburst crawled towards his Pokeball on the stump, tapped it and went inside as a red shapely light. Ash then turned to Misty angrily. "Why did you say that? Why is it that you hate Bug Pokemon?"__**

* * *

**_

_After Team Rocket ran away for the first time, Misty had thoughts about what had just happened. _"He's different. Maybe…I might have a chance…?"

_She hadn't realize Ash was behind her but luckily, he didn't hear her._

_"C'mon Misty, just touch 'im." he said, holding the bug out to her. Misty slowly drew her hand out and reached out at the caterpillar as he watched with anticipating eyes, Ash witnessed for the first time with his very eyes, a Pokemon evolution.__**

* * *

**__More memories are recalled: Ash and Samurai's first meeting, their battle, their farewell, Misty deciding to go off on her own, them being chased by a swarm of Beedrill, Metapod evolving one final time, Butterfree putting the Beedrill to sleep, and Ash and Samurai's promise to battle again someday…__**

* * *

**_

He then gave the ginger haired girl his usual, cheerful Ash grin. "Those were the old days, huh?"

She turned away and blushed at the sight of his face. "Yeah…"

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't have time to reminisce." Raven said. Ash shot him a look.

"Hey, who made you in charge?"

"…Prof. Oak did."

The three raised a brow. Raven told them about Oak's request but not about the money. Tracey nodded. "Prof. Oak may be strict at times but he knows how to look out for us." he concluded. He then turned to Ash and Misty. "So, the next city is Pewter City, right?" he asked. They nodded. It was the hometown of their best friend, Brock Slate.

Raven waved his hand without turning to him. "Are we going or not?" he asked. Misty glared at him.

"Who are you to decide when we go or not?" she answered. The man did not turn his head. Instead, he shrugged, shaking his head and walked on. Tracey followed after him while Ash turned to Misty.

"Misty, let's go."

She nodded.

* * *

"Alright, now gimme everything you have!" a voice shouted.

"What more could you want?! What is it that you think we seniors would have that is of value to you?" an old woman shouted. The old man nodded with his dear wife.

"Give me your Pokemon and I promise, on my Team's honor and word, I will leave you both alone."

The old man and his wife resisted. The Team Grunt just shook his head irritatingly. "You asked for it. Go, Golbat, Dustox!"

A huge blue bat with a huge mouth and two fangs materialized from the red light. From the other, a purple bodied moth with green wings appeared, already fluttering its wings in anger. The old couple nodded to each other.

"Are you ready to fight, my dear?"

"Yes dearest."

They drew out their Pokeball respectively. The balls were soon thrown.

"Go, Butterfree!"

"Assist us now, Beedrill!"

Out of the Pokeballs popped out a butterfly-like Pokemon with white wings and a bee-like Pokemon with twin needle arm arms. They faced the two opposing Pokemon. The battle soon commenced…

* * *

"Ooohh, I'm hungry."

The ice blue haired girl made a face, as she stopped on the side of the road, under a tree and took a moment to look through her backpack. What first started out as a normal check through soon turned into a horrific discovery. "OH NOOO! There's no more food left!" as she felt her stomach growl again and soon the tears streamed down again. As the youngest growing girl in the family, she was also the one that gorged the most, second to her brother. Her brother…

"Big Brother…"

It had been six years since she had heard the news about her big brother's disappearance. No one knew what happened but she knew that someone close to the family was lying. Although her journey was to become a renowned Ice Pokemon Trainer, her other reason was to find out what happened to her brother.

She didn't have time to ponder the unknown when she heard a loud voice...and music?

* * *

-Team Galactic Battle Grunt theme-

"Butterfree…return."

"Beedrill, my poor Beedrill…"

"Hahahahahaha! No one can stand up against the might of Team Galactic!"

"Oh yeah, go Spheal, Snover!"

Two Pokeballs were thrown into the air, as a cute, round seal-like Pokemon and a white topped Pokemon with grass-like arms appeared. As soon as Snover appeared, it started to Hail, due to the ability of Snow Warning. The Grunt turned to face the girl, as he frowned. "Who are you!?" he demanded, the snow falling softly over the battlefield. The old couple watched as the girl made a cute face.

The girl grinned. "Oh me?" she asked, striking a cute pose. "I am Emilia Runes from the Sinnoh Region but you can call me Emi. But I am also known as…"

The color of her hair shimmered beautifully in the light of the forest, as the Galactic Grunt and the old couple saw a glowing light blue aura emanating from her, causing her hair to blow up a bit with it too. The girl smirked sweetly at him. "Ice Blue."

"I-Ice Blue?" as the realization dawned on him. "Whaaa? You're _THAT_ girl?!"

Emi grinned sheepishly. "Oh now, you're making me blush! Now Spheal, use Ice Beam on Golbat!"

"Huh!? G-Golbat, dodge it quickly!"

The bat made to dodge it, as the freezing beam slipped passed it, almost getting it. "Now Dustox, use Psybeam on that Snover!"

The girl grinned. "Avalanche!"

"WHAA!?"

The attack hit Snover but didn't really do much to it. The Avalanche came in a form of a gigantic ice ball that came just out of nowhere from the sky. The Grunt watched as his poison moth was crushed by the Ice attack as the girl then shouted for another attack. "Now, use Water Pulse Spheal!"

"That won't happen so soon, little girl! Use Haze to hide yourself!"

The girl immediately snapped from being called 'little'. "DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

The attack seemed to have missed, as the Grunt grinned. "Now Dustox, team up with Golbat and use Toxic!" he shouted, knowing what the gradually deadly attack could do.

Emi was losing her cool now. "Still going huh? Snover, use Blizzard, Spheal use Sheer Cold on that Golbat before it hits!"

Snover struck true to both with the mighty snowstorm. Sheer Cold was an attack that depended on how high in level the using Pokémon was. If the using Pokémon's level was higher than the target Pokémon, the target Pokémon can easily be knocked out in one blow not to mention that it has a very slim chance of striking the foe, but to the Grunt's surprise struck true as well as Golbat immediately fainted! The girl was now showing her other self, her fierce battling spirit. "Okay you guys, team up on that Dustox with Ice Beam!"

"AARGH! NOO!"

Dustox fell from the sky as the Grunt called back the moth while it was still in the air, as he stepped away from Emi, whose two Pokemon were standing by her side. The snow was falling but the girl didn't seem to mind. She sighed with boredom. "Really, you Grunts can't put up much of a fight at all! I'm so bored!"

"?"

She raised her head and whispered, "This is the part where you run away."

The Grunt did what she had said. He ran away, leaving a trail of dust, as the girl turned to the elderly couple. "Thank the Legendaries for helping us, kind girl." the old woman said.

"We're just a retired old couple who wanted to live in peace and quiet until that bad man came and tried to take away our Pokemon." her husband said. Emi grinned happily.

"Don't worry, you won't be seeing jerks like him anymore. By the way, I'm Emilia Runes but you can call me Emi."

"Emi, we thank you from the very bottom of our hearts."

* * *

"Hey guys, don't you feel like there's something missing?" Ash asked suddenly. Misty and Tracey looked at each other and gave him a nod.

"Yeah."

"Come to think of it, I thought there was something wrong since we had left Viridian City?"

Raven just looked at the three of them. "If you've forgotten something then go on back and get it but don't count on my waiting for your return." he said, keeping his firm appearance. Ash turned to him and shook his head.

"No, it's not like that it's…"

Suddenly a mechanical hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed Pikachu! "PIKA!"

"Pikachu!"

"Ahahahahahahaha!" as the four looked in the direction of the laughter to find three familiar, very familiar faces. Smoke soon came out of the bushes and clouded their vision.

-Team Rocket theme-

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" a woman's voice said.

"It speaks to me loud and clear." a man's voice said.

"On the wind."

"Past the stars."

"In yer ear."

"Bringing chaos at a breakneck pace."

"Dashing hope, putting fear in it's place."

"A rose by any other name is just as sweet."

"When everything's worse, our work is complete."

A red haired woman wearing a white uniform with an "R" symbol that reached down to her thighs wearing black long gloves and boots appeared, her navel showing. "Jessie."

A blue haired man wearing a similar white outfit though more fit for the male with the same "R" insignia appeared, holding a rose in his hand and appeared to look elegant at the same time. "James."

A cat-like Pokemon leapt out from behind them, holding the machine that held Pikachu in its hand. The cat had a golden shiny charm on his forehead and stood up on two feet. Whether it surprised Raven or not, the cat Pokemon began to speak in a human tongue.

"Meowth, now dat's a name!" as for the first time, Raven did an unusual thing. He blinked. "_A…talking Meowth? And where's the music coming from?"_

Soon the two humans were standing side by side, pointing directly at the four. "Putting the do-gooder's in their place."

"Team Rocket!"

All three of them pointed at the group. "We're in your face!"

As if on cue a blue creature with a strange black tail appeared, giving a salute.

"Wobbuffet!"

A cute little pinkish Pokémon with a red nose also appeared with Wobbuffet.

"Mime, mime!"

Raven turned to the three teens and gave them his usual look. "Who are they?"

The trio fell, well, both trios as the woman stood back up, Jessie stood back up angrily.

"HOW DARE YOU!? Are you so blind as to NOT recognize a beauty among beauties here!?"

Raven turned to give her a bored look. "Hmm… Right now, you have the temper to rival an Ursaring's." he concluded. This only further infuriated the Rocket woman.

"WHY YOU!" as James held her back.

"Let it go Jess, he's just trying to get to you!"

Meowth squinted a bit at the dark haired man wearing the crimson hat that was tilted over to one side. "Who's he? He's too old ta be a twoip?"

Raven looked up at them. "My name is Raven. I am currently traveling with Ash."

Jessie and James gave the man a strange look before turning to see Misty and Tracey. "If it isn't Red and that twerp in green, who's name I've forgotten?" Jessie said, seeing Tracey's frustration.

"…Why are you here?"

"Whaddya think?" as Meowth held the mechanical hand that still held onto Pikachu. "Ta get yer Pikachu and give 'im ta da Boss!"

"Oh no you don't! Staryu!"

Misty called out one of her old Pokemon as the brownish orange starfish spun around in the air before standing on the grass. Jessie grinned, drawing out her Pokeball.

"I really missed the days we used to battle each other! Let me show you some of my new Pokemon, go, Seviper!"

James drew out his own Pokeball. "Okay Chimecho, get in there!"

What happened next would need to be explained later to Misty, Raven and Tracey. "AAAH! I can't see! I can't see at all!" James shouted, the Psychic type's tail wrapped over his eyes. Jessie sighed with slight irritation as her partner ran about aimlessly in the background, trying to get his Pokemon off him.

"Ugh! Now, will you help me or not?" He asked. Chimecho understood and went to Seviper's side. Ash drew out a Pokeball.

"Okay then I choose--"

"Wait!"

Everyone froze and turned to Raven. He turned to Ash and Misty. "Call back your Pokemon," as he smirked. Whether Ash and Misty could remember, the man only smirked whenever he battled. He apparently decided not to sit back and watch. Jessie and James blinked but kept their guard up.

"What? You think YOU can beat US!?"

"Actually…" as he pulled out one Pokeball from his belt, under his cloak. He did not remove the black, tattered cape which he kept wound around himself still. "Will. Go, Krow!"

To Ash's surprise and Team Rocket's, a huge black bird that was the evolved form of Murkrow appeared, perched on Raven's arm. The man petted the bird Pokemon in a kind way, when he and the bird gave the Rockets a narrow, mischievous look. Ash, Misty, and Tracey thought he clearly looked insane. The Rocket trio froze at the sight of his eyes and shivered. "Krow, go!" he shouted, the bird Pokemon taking to the skies.

-Kanto Pokemon Trainer battle theme-

"You wanna go against us, two to one!?"

"You're insane!"

Raven tilted his hat up a bit, his smug smirk growing slightly and dark. "Maybe. Krow, strike with Night Slash on Chimecho there!"

James watched as in a few dark flashes followed by faint slashing sounds, Chimecho was quickly knocked out! Talk about your easy win. Jessie turned to the man, whom had Krow perched on his left arm. "Seviper, use Poison Tail!"

"Dodge it."

The Big Boss Pokemon gracefully dodged the attack. "Now, Steel Wing."

The raven's wings started to glow brightly as the Honchkrow quickly swooped in and knocked the poison viper a bit! Seviper still wasn't down for the count though. "Use Glare to paralyze it!"

The snake began to use its eyes to bind the bird but Jessie saw that it was nowhere to be found! "Whaa!? Wh-Where is it!?"

"Dark Pulse."

A mysterious black wave surged forth from the black bird which collided right into Seviper at full force! But the snake was a live one, it wouldn't fall even after that attack. "Poison Jab!" Jessie shouted, using Seviper's most powerful Poison type attack in her arsenal. Raven didn't show any signs of weariness. The snake Pokemon's attack was about to connect to the Honchkrow when…

"DRILL PECK!"

The viper was finally knocked out by the powerful Flying type move as Jessie shakily called back Seviper. Raven's Honchkrow was perched back on his left arm, not appearing to be the least bit weary. The man petted his bird Pokemon's head without even showing any sign of content. He turned his head back to the trio. "I suggest you hand over Pikachu."

"N-No way!" Jessie muttered. Raven sighed and waved his left arm, Krow taking flight again.

"Steel Wing!"

The mechanical hand broke as Pikachu leapt up into the air. "Okay Pikachu, give 'em the age-old Thunderbolt!"

"Pika…CHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The trio was electrocuted as usual before the might of the Thunderbolt caused an explosion and sent them, "WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"

The trio disappeared into the sky, leaving the familiar ting sound behind.

* * *

A mysterious man with grayish hair that covered his eyes had watched the whole battle but eying Ash, not Raven. His Xatu was besides him, as he muttered, "Impressive…" at the display of the powerful Thunderbolt before he and his Xatu both Teleported out of sight.

* * *

The teens did not ask Raven about his skills as a Pokemon Trainer which was all he only admitted. "I'm just a Pokémon Trainer, nothing more, nothing less…"

Seeing as that was all they could get out of him, Ash & co. traveled through the Viridian Forest before it wasn't long until his stomach growled out of hunger. He gave a sheepish smile. "I'm hungry."

This caused the two teens to fall back as Raven looked at him. "We had just eaten recently before. How can you be hungry?"

"Oh, Ash is famous for his Snorlax-of-a-stomach!" Misty exclaimed. "Not to mention his…sense of direction." she said, giving him a sly grin. Raven could take that the last one was not a compliment, more the other way around. Ash frowned.

"Whaddya mean? I'm not the one that's always saying 'Let's take the shortcuts!'"

"Well, I'm not the one always running off after every single Pokemon I see! Oh look, there's a Pinsir!" she exclaimed suddenly. Ash suddenly turned around.

"Where!?" he asked, looking elsewhere from where she pointed.

No one said a word.

"See what I mean? Dense with no sense of direction!"

"WHAT!? I'll have you know I know which way north is!"

"Well, would you point it out, oh mighty Pokemon Master-of-the-future?" she asked.

Ash then turned to look around to find out north as after turning around for the fifteenth time, Raven put his hand on the boy's head and turned him straight towards north. "Either buy a compass next time or do something else to figure out north than do a 360 degree turn fifteen times!" he snapped.

"He's right, Ash." Tracey said.

Misty nodded before she heard some kind of rustling in the bushes nearby. "Wh-What was that!?"

"A Poke- OW!"

"Don't try to assume!" Raven grumbled, his hand on the boy's head still. Tracey bravely investigated the bush before he saw a round, baby blue seal Pokemon sticking its head out. Misty, being a Water Pokemon fanatic, immediately identified it.

"SO CUUUTE! It's a Spheal!" as she drew out her Pokeball immediately and prepared to catch it. Raven knew something was odd when he saw the Spheal.

"Wait! Spheal are native to Hoenn, why would--" as they saw a light blue haired girl pop her head out of the bush.

"Whatcha' find Spheal?" as she looked up and saw the four and Misty holding her Pokeball.

"Um…"

"HEY! YOU TRYING TO STEAL SPHEAL!?" she shouted. Misty turned fifteen shades of red before hiding the Pokeball.

"U-Um, I-I didn't k-know, h-honest!"

Emi gave her a look that said 'I don't believe you'. Tracey looked at her.

"Who are you anyway, may I ask?"

Emi turned to him with a prideful grin, which Misty immediately disliked. "I am Emilia Runes from Celestic Town in the Sinnoh region! I am an aspiring Ice Pokemon Trainer! I am also known as Ice Blue Emi because of my nature!" as she looked narrowly at Misty. "You must be Misty Waterflower from Cerulean City, right?"

Misty gritted her teeth. "Ice Pokemon Trainer huh?"

Ash could see the two already starting to get heated up and it wasn't the heat at all! Raven had his attention on Emi, pulling the two girls apart before a cat-fight could brew. "Okay, break it up, you two!"

Emi looked up at him with a frown. "And whom might you be?"

"…Raven."

"Raven? What kinda name is that?" she asked out loud. Raven twitched.

"_You rotten little--" _but he shook the thought away. "It's a name." he said, walking ahead. Emi then turned to Tracey, whom she ignored, Misty whom looked narrowly back at her. When she came to Ash, she squealed loudly with delight.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKK! It's **YOU**! IT'S REALLY **YOU**!"

"WH-WHAA!?"

Misty immediately saw the girl already jumping onto the growing teenager before slowly seething with rage. Raven took his hat off and fanned himself. "Strange, did it suddenly get hot here?"

"U-Uh, w-who a-a-a-are y-y-y-you!?" he stuttered, surprised by her sudden move. Emi smiled sweetly as she looked at him, trying to show him not just her cute side but her beautiful side.

"Oh? I'm Emilia, but you can call me Emi or…Emi-chan or…?"

"Just what…do you…think…you're doing?" Misty asked, pulling the girl off of him. Emi looked at her.

"Expressing my love for Ash Ketchum, who else?" as Misty blinked.

"How did you--"

"Oh, he's already well known, how could I **NOT** know, tee-hee-hee!"

Misty made a face. To think Macey, that Fire Pokemon loving girl was gone, in comes Emi, this Ice Pokemon giddy girl already hitting on her Ash! "_Wait, __**my**__ Ash?"_

"Uh…th-that's nice, now, could you get offa me, please?" he asked. Emi gave him a cute pout.

"Aww…but I wanna stay like this…" She ran her hand gently over his cheek. "Forever."

"Ehehe…"

Then the girl felt herself lifted off, as she looked wildly around. "Stop getting all lovey-dovey! I had to spend seven years traveling with someone like that who not only flirted with every single girl he saw but also made my life a living hell being a rival! "_Not to mention flirting with __**her**__ as well…"_ Raven said, holding her up by her backpack. It was her turn to turn fifteen shades of red or more.

"HEY! HEY! LEMME GO! LEMME GO OR ELSE I'LL--"

"As you wish!" he muttered, dropping her on the ground. She rubbed her bottom before glaring at the smirking man.

"Ooh, you--" Something growled nearby.

"What was that?" Tracey asked, wondering what all the commotion was about. Emi sheepishly looked at him.

"My stomach." causing everyone excluding Ash to fall. It wasn't long until Ash's stomach growled too.

"Yeah, me too?"

* * *

"So…you four are traveling to Saffron City?"

"My, that's quite far. But with the four of you going together, it shouldn't be that difficult."

Tracey smiled at the old woman. "Yeah but we have to deal with a time limit in order to deliver something to Prof. Flowen."

"Did you say Prof. Flowen!?" Emi shouted, accidentally in Raven's ear. The man mumbled low obscenities while Ash nodded.

"Yeah."

The girl then found her chance. "Lemme come with you!"

"WHAT!?"

"Oh, I wouldn't mind."

"Just as long as you control yourself."

Misty looked at the three men before looking at Emi and turning her head away. "Hmph!"

* * *

"Well, we got another addition to the gang."

"Yeah, but still…I just don't like her." Misty said.

Ash gave her a look and smirked. "Gee, I wonder why?" as she suddenly turned to him, red again.

"Wh-What're you saying!?"

"Hi guys! I can't wait to start traveling with you! Last time, I traveled with three other people!" Emi said, popping up behind them suddenly. Misty gave her a look that clearly meant "Go away, you pest!"

"Oh, hey Emi. So, you said you're an Ice Pokemon Trainer?" Ash asked as she nodded. "I'm interested about Ice Pokemon. See, I got a Glalie back at Prof. Oak's Lab…" he said, starting to tell her about his Pokemon. Misty could see that the two were really engaged as she sighed and walked away.

Tracey was sketching the Butterfree and Beedrill pair when he saw Misty. "Misty!"

She didn't hear him as he sighed. Misty then walked a little deep into the forest when she saw Raven, with his hat off. He was engaged in something as she remembered how the man acted towards her and Ash and decided to be a little…cold herself. She approached him but then saw him picking his hat up but didn't put it on. "What?"

She froze. "_He's good?"_ "Umm…well…"

"You're thinking about that Emi girl, aren't you?" as his dark hair blew in the breeze. Misty noticed how messy it looked, like Ash's though the shadow it cast was good. And for the first time, she noticed his eyes. They were a strange eye color, indigo like the color of the night sky. Raven grinned at her expression. "Are you sure about looking at me like that? Wouldn't a certain someone get…jealous?" he asked. Misty immediately turned red, as the man chuckled. His chuckle was one of the rare things that made him seem human.

"Th-That's not what I meant! And why would I look at you!?" she retorted. Raven put his hat back on, tilting it to one side before walking past her.

"Just so you know, I've no interest in you. One, you're younger than me and two, you like Ash. Three…I've already have my eyes set on _her_…" he said, trailing off.

"Wh-Whaa?!"

"As I thought. But I must tell you, if you wait too long, some other girl may snatch him away before you…" he said, walking back to the cabin. His word's hit Misty really hard.

"He's…right. If I don't then but- how can I? How can I tell him without expecting something back and what if he--"

She stopped right there_. "Get a grip, Misty! You're losing your mind over what that guy said."_ she thought. She walked back to the cabin.

* * *

After staying the night with the nice old couple, the five waved goodbye to the couple, while Ash snatched the ketchup packet out of Pikachu's paws. "Jeez, Pikachu, haven't ya had enough already?"

The mouse glared at him as Misty made to comfort him when Emi got there first. "Aww, it's okay Pikachu. Here, you can have mine." she said, handing him her own ketchup packet. Misty gave her a glare beyond glares.

"_Sh-She's trying to get Pikachu's trust!? Darn, she's trickier than I thought!?"_

"Let's get going. We should try to get to Mt. Moon in a day or a day and a half." Raven said, walking ahead. His cloak fluttered with the wind as Emi looked back at Misty.

"Well, jealous yet?" she asked. Misty felt like wanting to punch her. Instead she remained calm. "No."

"Oh? I was hoping for some competition? It's no fun if I win…that easily." Misty twitched. "So, you sure you don't want him for a boyfriend?"

"For your information, Ash and I are the best of friends! I don't--"

"Oh whatever. Deny it all you want but deep down, you want him. You want him bad!"

"Ugh, I'm nowhere near as ditsy as you!"

"Ditsy? You're calling me ditsy, Waterflower!?"

"That's right, Runes!"

"Okay, then you're on, you red-haired runt!"

"There's no way you're getting Ash, you blue-haired ditz!"

Emi grinned slyly. "Oh…I will, just watch me…" she said, with a wink. She then ran back to Ash and walked immediately besides him. The boy was quite taken aback by her approach since yesterday but was slowly warming up to her. Misty frowned, while she noticed Raven's look. She remembered his words but wondered when did he suddenly help her?

"Well, he's not told us much about his past so I can only say that he must've been through something…like me?" she wondered. "Well, I just hope that I can tell Ash before it's too late!" she thought. "_Someday…you'll see the other Misty, the real Misty Ash…"_

---

_That's a wrap for chapter 4. Turned out longer than I wanted to but I did have tons of bullets so yeah. Didn't turn out how I wanted it but hey, at least I didn't have a writer's block and yes, Emi is a rival for Misty._

_Yeah, you all must want to beat up Emi (those that are Misty lovers) but remember: she's like this for a reason and also, because it's fun and will help with the AAML . Yeah, I must be weird to say that? You can hate her now but this is the character I planned out for her. To be honest, Emi is one of my favorites, which is the reason why I have her profile in my profile. As for that guy watching the four a while ago, he's going to play a part in this fic so why else would I have him appear? I'm going to start on Chapter 5 now, ehehe, I haven't even started it yet! Yup, go figure for me! Right, so R&R you know the drill. _

_P.S. Raven may have seemed a little strange opening up, well to me but this is what I have set up plus this is where it can help me decide just what his past was like… Ok, enough babbling! _

_And for those of you wanting to see an AAML, well, it's gonna come at certain points because as much as I am for the Ash and Misty getting together, it'd make the story harder for me to do. They need to go through obstacles and this journey in order to figure it out. Oh and by the way, I tried to make the names of my OC to my liking so if you don't like, well, tough! I just noticed Pikachu barely had a part in this. I'll try to make up for it. After all, how could I leave one of our most beloved Pokemon out of this fict?_

**A/N: Good grief, at this rate I could have the longest A/N's add-ins! Okay, so I removed all of the things in parentheses like -(I don't know what Misty said exactly but she did say something nice about Ash in episode 3, something that hinted on how she may have felt about him at the time)- because at that time, I was still a budding writer and still am and I want it to be more of an actual story and a note in parentheses is not supposed to be in a story in the first place as it takes away the attention of the reader and may ruin the tension of the scene they are reading. So, did anyone figure out what that dialogue was? If not, well, that's okay. I don't have any prizes to hand out anyways though so don't ask. As you may have noticed, Team Rocket's motto is new and for those of you that do not know, it is based on the D/P series. Yeah…that's as far as I'll go with bringing new gen things into this fic so. Also because the blasted new motto stuck in my head when I watched the episodes. I didn't watch all of them but I can bet your silver dollar that they appeared in just about every D/P episode saying the damn motto or a variation of it. --;**


	5. Lunch with the Slates

_Disclaimer: What? You want me to put that darn thing back on? We all know that Pokemon was created by the great Satoshi Tajiri, so get off my case! Shoo, git, vamoose, amscray, and I have no idea what I'm saying anymore? Anyways, this chapter's up and I hope you enjoy it. By the way, this will apply to every chapter. Why? Too lazy to write something new ¬.¬ This is where the sex references and violence will start to apply so get ready, cuz this chapter will explain why it's rated T, starting on Chapter 6 for the violence._

_A/N: -laughs- I don't even know why I put that sex ref. warning. Okay so one of my OCs is womanly in mind and body but it's not like it's M-rated here. Eh, screw it, I'm leaving it here. Some changes here and there…_

**Viridian Fall**

**Chapter 5: Lunch with the Slates**

**Day 3, Week 1**

"Alright, we're almost there ya guys!"

Tracey sighed. "How many days have passed since we left Viridian City, Misty?"

"I think it was…oh I didn't keep track of it!"

Raven turned to Ash. "It's only been two days since we left. Why?"

"Because we have three weeks to get to Saffron City!" Tracey shouted at him, remembering when he spoke to Prof. Oak. Emi waved him off.

"Oh don't worry, it shouldn't take too long, we'll be there before ya know it!" she said cheerily.

Misty gave her a narrow look. "_Great, she really is a ditz!"_

Emi then turned to Ash. "By the way, one of your friends lives in town right?"

"Uh…"

She grabbed his hand, much to Misty's dismay. "Let's go see him then!"

"W-W-Wait a sec--"

She dragged him along as Misty was left seething with jealousy.

"HEY!"

Tracey wiped his forehead. "Wow, it really is hot? Huh, aren't you _kinda_ hot wearing that?" he asked Raven, pointing at the man's black cloak that covered nearly every part of him. The man now had the cloak cover up to his nose so you couldn't tell if he was smiling, grinning, or smirking. He turned to the Watcher with a monotone voice.

"No."

* * *

Forrest sat on the couch, watching the recorded tape of the Sinnoh League. He didn't hear the doorbell ring as an older boy, his brother walked to the door and opened it. He was surprised to find Ash, Misty, Tracey and two others he did not know.

"Ash, Misty, and Tracey? What're you doing here?"

"Afternoon, Brock!"

"Actually, it's not afternoon but approaching noon. Anyways who're you two?" Brock asked. Emi smiled as Raven did not acknowledge his own existence.

"I'm Emi!"

"…Raven."

Brock held out his hand to them. "Brock Slate, former Gym Leader of Pewter City, presently a Pokemon Breeder." as Emi shook it. Raven did not hold out his hand.

"A Breeder?" asked Emi.

"It's someone who raises Pokemon and cares for them, like a daycare center." Tracey explained.

"So, Brock, you gonna let us in or what?" Ash asked as Brock laughed nervously.

"Ahahahahaha, yeah, I forgot about that?"

They walked into the house, which was not that far from the Gym itself when two adults, Flint and Brock's mother, Lola walked out to greet them. "Oh, Brock, you didn't tell us we had visitors?"

Brock turned to her. "You already know Ash, Mom. Oh yeah, this is Misty, Tracey, Emi, and Raven!" he said. Raven gave the boy a cold look. The older boy gave a nervous laugh.

"Ahaha…n-nice to meet you."

Raven turned to Ash. "We'd best head back to heal our Pokemon. I need to get Krow checked up."

Ash nodded. Emi nodded along. "Yeah, my Pokemon could use a rest too."

Misty and Tracey looked at each other then at Ash. "Yeah, we should go check up on them, right Pikachu?" she asked. The mouse nodded as she picked him up in her arms. Pikachu made himself comfortable in her arms.

"Alright, then. Come by for lunch when you can!" Lola called out.

As the five left the house, the same mysterious figure from the Viridian Forest watched them from a tree. He saw Raven and Emi and fell silent. "……"

Ash and his friends began to walk to the Pokémon Center when Brock called out to him.

"Ash, can I talk to you for a bit? Don't worry guys, go on ahead!"

"Oh but I wanna stay with you, Ashy!" Emi said. A hand reached out and grabbed the back of her shirt.

"Come on, it's boy talk, leave them be!" Raven said, dragging her away.

When they were gone, Ash turned to Brock. "So what is it Brock?"

"_He can't figure it out? Man, Misty was right all along! _Well, I see that Misty's back. Been a long time since I last saw her?"

"C'mon Brock, we saw her back in Sinnoh several months back, remember?"

"Yeah, but… "_You still can't figure it out, can you Ash?"_

"But what, Brock?"

Brock took a moment to register what he was going to say. "What do you really think of Misty, and tell me the truth!"

Ash flinched. Brock could see he got some kind of reaction. "U-Uh…w-well, she's m-my b-best friend, then comes you!"

"Is that all? C'mon Ash, I know there's more to it…" Ash gave him a confused look.

"Whaddya mean?"

Brock sighed. How could he NOT figure it out? Oh wait, this is Ash we're talking about! Other than that, never let the map fall into his hands. "Never mind. You'll figure it out someday, hopefully soon… Besides, you're a lucky guy."

Ash nodded. "Uh-huh… Well, gotta get back to the guys." he said, running to the Center. Brock watched his friend run off.

"Really Ash, you're a lucky guy…"

* * *

"Here ya go, Nurse Joy."

Nurse Joy took the Pokeballs, but then everyone saw that Raven did not hand his Pokeballs to the nurse. "Kind sir, don't you need your other Pokemon checked in too?"

Raven gave an unreadable look and shook his head. "That won't be necessary."

Ash turned to him. "Whaddya mean? Why won't you?"

Raven smirked, his back to them. "I can't let you know what Pokemon I have, Ketchum." he said. Ash looked at him.

"Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be amusing."

"?"

"……"

"H-Hey! That's not fair!" he finally shouted. Raven merely ignored him.

Ash gave him 'the look' before walking over to where Misty, Tracey, and Emi were. Had he seen where he was going, he'd have not bumped into a rather beautiful woman. Beautiful would not have summed her. She was a goddess, absolutely beautiful with her curvaceous body. She had red hair like Lorelei a.k.a. Prima though cut short down to her neck. She wore a beige colored jacket with a lemon-colored tank top underneath that made a good show of her ample chest. While it is hard to tell is she had such smooth legs under her blue jeans, it is safe to say that they are. Ash was stunned beyond words upon meeting this woman.

"Oh my, I'm sorry? Do you need a hand?"

Ash was still staring, not noticing the demonic glare from Misty, aimed at the woman. Tracey looked at Misty whom was looking at the woman. Before Tracey could ask, Emi called out, "Iria!"

The woman turned to the girl with a smile. "Well, if it isn't Emi?"

Emi smiled back. "What brings you to Kanto? I thought you were going to be in Hoenn?"

"Oh, family matters. You?"

Emi pulled out her badge case that had yet to be seen and the woman saw seven Kanto Badges: the Thunder Badge, the Rainbow Badge, the Marsh Badge, the Soul Badge, the Volcano Badge, the Boulderbadge and to Misty's surprise, the Cascade Badge! "Am I amazing or what?" she asked them as Raven turned towards them and nearly did a double take upon seeing the woman.

"_Wh…What is she doing here!?"_

Misty was standing before the girl, obviously angry that she had the Cascade Badge. "No way!"

"No way what?"

"Th-Then that means y-you're the one that--!"

"That defeated you several months back? Gee, you didn't even remember me?"

"I never even got your name! You left as soon as I handed you the badge!"

"Well, somehow I guess I forgot to mention it?" she said, a smirk present. "Anyways, let's not fight, I'm not in the mood!" she said. Misty made an effort to retort but the woman put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Emi's right. By the way, I have not introduced myself." as she looked at them all and nodded her head. "I'm Iria."

"Hi, Iria. I'm Misty."

"Oh, aren't you the Cerulean City Gym Leader?"

"Y-Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Oh…" as the woman smiled and winked at her. "I've heard things about you…"

"Huh?"

"Hello, I'm Tracey." he said, though he was ogling her…chest.

As for Ash…well, he couldn't say a thing. When he felt a jab from Tracey's elbow, he snapped out of the trance. "U-Uh, I-I'm A-Ash K-Ketchup- I mean K-Keptun- I mean- Meet to pleased you!"

"That's Ash." Misty pointed out as she narrowly glared at the boy. No doubt about it, Ash was seemingly infatuated with the woman! Iria nodded. Then Raven walked by. Apparently, he was not phased at all by her figure.

"…Iria."

The woman caught onto his tone. She smiled. "…Raven." she spoke his name amusingly.

"What brings you here?" he asked, keeping his cool as usual.

"As I've told Emi, family business." as she turned to him. "More importantly, what brings **you** here, Raven…?" she asked amusingly.

"…Always quick to point things out, aren't you?"

"If I'm correct, I'm a few years older than you, Raven!"

The man looked directly at her. "Age does not matter in my case. Be it you're the Johto Champion, the leader of the Sinnoh Elite or the God of Pokemon, I won't back down from a challenge." he said, with a hint of seriousness in his voice.

"N-Now, I didn't mean it like that!" she said, waving her hands at him nervously. The man just dismissed it as he turned to Ash. "Always so serious." she muttered.

"What time is it?"

"Huh? Well, it's…"

"It's noon. Hey, didn't Brock say that he and his family were going to have lunch at 12?"

A low growl was heard. "Uh…?"

"Apparently, a certain someone's hungry?" Misty said as Ash gave her a look. "Well, guys, what say we go and dine with the Slates?"

"I'd love to meet Brock's family."

"Who's Brock?"

"He's one of our closest friends that was with me and Mist when we traveled through Kanto and Johto together. You met him a while ago." Ash explained. Misty felt a blush on her cheeks when he had called her by her nickname.

"You mean that guy that appeared to have no eyes?" Emi asked uneasily.

"Uh…well, I dunno bout the eyes?"

Misty turned to him. "Come to think of it, it's hard to tell if Brock can see at all?"

"Regardless, we must all be hungry." as everyone looked at Raven. "Is there a problem?"

"Uh…no, there isn't!" Ash said nervously.

* * *

Everyone excluding Iria whom had to move on through Mt. Moon sat at the dining table, which was not surprising to them to find that it was huge considering the many children of Flint and Lola. Brock and his family rounded out most of the table while Ash & co were left at the very bottom though they all sat on either side: Ash, Tracey, and Raven to the left while Misty and Emi to the right. While normally everyone would just eat, Lola was quite curious to learn more about Misty, being a fan of Water Pokemon herself.

"So, Misty dear, Brock tells me that you're the Cerulean City Gym Leader, is that correct?"

Misty nodded and made sure to swallow her food before replying, "Yes."

"Oh, you're so lucky dear…" as the woman began to get dramatic and tell her about the time Brock came back home and about the fateful battle that decided the Pewter City Gym. At the end, Misty wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and turned to Brock.

"Is that true?"

Brock sadly nodded. Then Ash turned to Lola. "But why would you do that, Ms. Slate? There's already one Water Pokemon Gym in Kanto," as he glanced over at Misty. "And of the only Rock Gym, Pewter's it, right?"

"No."

Everyone quickly turned to Raven, whom didn't mind the attention. "While there are the eight official Pokemon League Gyms of Kanto: Viridian, Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion, Celadon, Saffron, Fuchsia, and Cinnabar, there are more Pokemon League Gyms in the Kanto region. I'm not entirely sure what they are but I do know they exist."

"What's your point?" Brock asked.

"My point: There are plenty of other Rock Pokemon Gyms even if they are unofficial throughout the region."

"I wonder if there's an Ice Pokemon Gym here?" Emi said out loud. She had a dreamy look on her face. "I wonder if the Leader's a cutey too?"

Everyone excluding Raven gave her a 'What's she talking about look?' while the man himself remained silent. Lola turned to Flint. "Someday, I'm going to have my own Water Pokemon Gym!"

She then looked at Tracey, whom was busy staring blankly across the table. "How about you dear?" she asked the Watcher. Tracey pointed at himself.

"M-Me?"

"Yes, dear, you."

"W-Well…I was born on the ???? Islands in the Orange Islands. My parents names are ???? Sketchit and ???? Sketchit--"

Emi gave a puzzled look. "Eh, I don't think I got it, did you?" she asked Ash, who shook his head. Misty did the same. Flint laughed nervously, as did everyone else. Raven shook his head.

"I don't think any of us will remember that?"

"Uh…well, let's put it this way: I met Ash and Misty a while after Brock was supposedly on Valencia Island with Professor, was it Ivy?"

"Uh-oh?"

"Uh-oh what?" Emi asked Misty. The ginger haired girl pointed at Brock, whom was sulking in a dark corner in the room.

"Oh…that name…"

Raven turned his head to Brock. "What's up with him?"

"Oh, he's uh…" as Ash and Misty took turns telling the Slates and their companions about the time they came back from the Orange Islands and found him in Pallet Town and at the mere mention of Professor Ivy… "…And that's what happened. So far," as he along with everyone else turned to look at Brock. "We don't know what might've happened during that time?"

Emi clasped her hands together and turned to the Breeder/flirt. "Aww, poor Brock…"

Raven scowled. "What's past is past, move on."

Misty turned to him. Ash too, along with Tracey who too, did not find that comment pleasant for his good friend. "How can you say that?"

"Yeah, how would you know!?"

"Tell us why you think so?"

Raven remained silent for a while. Then he gave them a blank, though no-smile look before looking back up at the ceiling. "……"

Lola, wishing to move on, decided to focus on Ash, as she did not get to hear much about him during the last visit. "What about you dear? Tell me a bit about yourself?"

"Me? Uh, well, I started my Pokemon journey when I was 10, I got Pikachu as my first Pokemon on the first day and also met Misty on the first day too," as Emi looked questioningly at the said girl, whom was doing her best to keep from blushing. "A little while later, Brock joined up with us." Then Ash went through countless tales of his, Misty, and Brock's adventures throughout Kanto, then the Orange Islands, then Johto, then Hoenn, then the Kanto Battle Frontier, and last the Sinnoh, ending with why they were stopping by in Pewter City. It was nearly five by the time he had finished recounting the years as everyone looked either dead tired or wanted to strangle him or tape his mouth shut, tie him up and throw him into the nearest lake, mostly the latter.

"Jeez, Ash, could you just tell it a whole LOT shorter next time?" Misty asked. Everyone nodded in unison though Raven seemed not phased.

"Well…that was…very interesting?" Lola said with a nervous smile.

She then turned to Emi. "How about you dear," as the woman took a quick glance at Raven, whom lowered his cloak a bit to drink the glass of water. Emi nodded.

"Well, I started my journey from my hometown of Celestic Town when I was ten. I've always had a fondness for Ice Pokemon, including Spheal which despite it being a Water type too, is my favorite and Pokémon I began with and is so cuuuuuuute!" she emphasized. While nearly everyone was dead tired of the stories, Misty remained focused so as to learn about the girl, Raven occasionally looked at the Ice Blue while Lola seemed rather pleased though not as pleased when she found out that Emi liked Ice not Water Pokemon. "…I have two reasons for journeying: One is to become an Ice Pokemon Master, like Prima!"

"WHAT!?"

"Well, I guess you're not the only one that admires Lorelei, Misty?" Tracey added. Misty pointed threateningly at the girl.

"Prima is my idol too!"

Emi grinned. "Well, it just so happens that she prefers Ice Pokemon OVER Water Pokemon!"

"Wouldn't it be better to look up to Pryce of Mahogany Town in Johto or Glacia of the Hoenn Elite Four?" Raven asked.

"Well, for one thing, Pryce is old and I don't like old. The other, Glacia isn't nearly popular enough but I still admire her, though not as much as Prima!!" she said with heart-shaped eyes.

"Have you ever **met** Prima!?" Misty retorted. Emi looked at her, a grin appearing on her face.

"Of course I have! I happened to have run into her on her home island of Four Island!"

This apparently made Misty more jealous. But then, Emi suddenly fell quiet. "And the other…is to find my Big Brother…"

Everyone including Misty began to feel sorry for her. The only one that wasn't sappy was Raven.

Lola quickly tried to move onto the man. "And what is your reason for being here?" she asked. Everyone quickly turned their attention to the enigma. Raven was indeed an enigma. No one knew much about him except that he joined Ash and Misty after saving them from Cassidy and Butch. The man heard the question being directed towards him.

He placed his elbows on the table as everyone looked at him intently. "I am in Kanto because I am searching for certain people: an old friend I hadn't heard from in six years, a powerful Trainer to test myself and said Trainer," as everyone gave a presumable look to Ash. "And…" as for some reason, a chilling feeling struck the room. "To avenge my mentor and to kill a certain man." as his eyes gave away the dark intent of killing the two people he mentioned.

No one uttered a word after he spoke.

"Well…that was…I hadn't expected that?" Lola said nervously. Ash turned to Emi.

"So, you say that you're here to search for your brother?" he asked.

"Mmhmm, I got my sources from Quentin, that nerd! Anyways, he told me that he remembered hearing bout him going to the Kanto region, six years ago."

"Then, how come you didn't come sooner?"

"Well…I had other things to attend to! But that'd be too much to explain and in the end, I got a call from that nerd and he told me about Ed being in Kanto. I figured that since he and my Big Brother were the best of friends, I might as well ask him for any leads. Also, I remember that he was the last one to see him, after Tari."

"Tari?"

Emi smiled sweetly at him. "Oh, she's like a big sister to me, even though I have a big sister, Sari. Anyways, the reason I say so is because Big Brother used to have a thing for her."

"A thing…for her?" Ash asked, still adapting to the mechanics of love, not that he knows can't. While everyone wondered about who these two Emi was talking about, Raven remained quiet, eyeing the girl.

"Mmhm but I'm talking too much, so I'll stop here."

Suddenly, Ash had that look on his face, a look that usually means he's made up his mind. "Hey, how bout we help you look for your brother? I mean, after we deliver the package to Prof. Flowen then we can help you look for him."

"Ash?"

"Y-You mean it!?" Emi asked. Never has anyone been so kind to her. Ash was so nice to take time to help her.

"Sure! Misty, Tracey, ya in?"

Misty, only wanting to be with Ash, nodded. "S-Sure!"

"Of course, there's nothing more important than searching for a sibling!" the Watcher exclaimed. Ash then turned to Brock.

"What bout you, Brock?"

"Huh?" he asked, back in his seat. "Oh, uh…"

"C'mon Brock, please?" Misty asked, secretly hoping he does. Brock saw her eyes and nodded.

"Sure."

Everyone turned to Raven, as he answered with a shrug. "Do you have to ask?"

"Thanks so much everyone!"

"No need to!" Ash said, waving a hand.

* * *

When lunch and dinner ended, as they had finished it by seven, Forrest managed to stop Ash & co from leaving. "Ash, wait!"

"Huh, what is it, Forrest?"

"Uh…c-can we b-battle, y-you and m-me?" he asked nervously. Ash smiled and nodded.

"Sure, I always wanted to battle a sibling of Brock's, especially one that's taking care of the gym in his place now!"

"G-Great, let's have a one-on-one Pokemon battle, no time limit!" as suddenly, someone walked in front of Ash as Emi surprised the boy. "H-Huh?"

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Misty shouted. Emi stuck her tongue out at her before turning to Ash.

"Ash, can I battle him?"

"Uh…yeah but don't you--"

"Okay! Let's go with the rules that you decided, kid!" she said, already full of ego. Forrest looked down at the floor in disappointment.

"Already have the Boulderbadge?" he asked though not loud enough for her to hear.

"But I wanted to battle Ash…"

**---**

_I've decided to not write too long of a chapter; gets me tired and lazy and I don't want Ma and Pa to force me to bed. Originally, guys, this was meant to be a long chapter but I found a way to chop it up into two. The next chapter is gonna be a little, how should I say, violent? To be honest, I had wanted this fict to be M but after considering MANY things, such as how I can have the characters cuss, if I wanted them to, without ruining their personality, which is inevitable or the other mature content but I won't. That doesn't necessarily mean that I WON'T do any M ficts or scenes; I just don't have the right energy at that time. Believe me, I got some good ficts to pull out of the storage room but for now, enjoy VF. Okay, I blab too much, review please?_

**A/N: Wow…this chapter sure made me realize how I pulled off another plot after the current is over. It's not a bad thing since it gives me a basis on where to go from here so in actuality, it's a good thing! Revision again. Changed some stuff in the scene with Iria, tried to make the conversations like conversations. Hmm, this chapter seems fine to me?**


	6. Power of Ice Blue

_Okay, change of plans. This chapter will not have violence but the next chapter will and why am I staring at a dead, crushed roach on my desk? Aah whatever. Anyways, I have gone hiatus now on two fics to work on this one! I somehow got the energy to do the battle scenes again, so yeah, I'm back but with the sacrifice of two fics. Okay, disclaimer…please refer to the previous chapter's disclaimer as I do not like to waste my breath on such things._

**A/N: I'd wondered why I had Emi battling Forrest and that was when it hit me: If Ash battled every single battle, this fic would be boring and having all of the CCs and OCs in here would have been a huge waste. Not to mention that I'd be more or just as bored and PO'd as all of you.**

**Previously…**

"_Ash, can I battle him?"_

_"Uh…yeah but don't you--"_

_"Okay! Let's go with the rules that you decided, kid!" she said, already full of ego. Forrest looked down at the floor in disappointment._

_"Already have the Boulderbadge?" he asked though not loud enough for her to hear._

_"But I wanted to battle Ash…"_

**Viridian Fall**

**Chapter 6: Power of Ice Blue**

**Day 3, Week 1**

Emi held her Pokeball in her hand, eager to get started. Forrest though was confused. He wanted to battle with Ash but then that crystal blue haired girl suddenly wanted to challenge him. Then that was when he realized it.

"H-Hold on!"

"What?"

"D-Don't you a-already have the Boulderbadge?"

"Oh, this?" she asked, showing him her badge case with said badge. "Well, now that you mention it…"

"We've already battled some time ago, haven't we? You won so why?"

"If I want to become as great and powerful as Prima, then I'll need to learn to be able to overcome my team's weakness, one being Rock types and the others being Fire and Steel." she answered. "I really don't care much for a badge since I already have one from here!"

Forrest, at first intimidated, regained himself. "Alright, you're on. This'll count as training for me!"

"Same here!"

Brock walked up to the two. "I'll be the judge for the 1-on-1 battle. Report to your position and when the arena is set, the battle will start."

The challenger went to the entrance of the Gym while the Leader went to the back of the Gym. Brock stood to the right of Emi and to the left of Forrest.

Emi nodded to him as she looked at the boy. "I hope you've improved."

Forrest drew out a Pokeball, readying for the battle. "I hope you know what you're doing!" he shouted.

The blue haired girl smiled back. "Oh, I hope you won't take me nicely just because I'm a girl."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I could tell that you lost because you underestimated me the last time!"

Forrest couldn't help but redden at the thought. "_Shoot, she's right…"_

"Are you ready?" she asked. "You're up first."

"Okay, then I cho--"

"Wait!"

Forrest stumbled forward a bit before looking back at her. "What now!?"

"Choose Steelix."

"What?"

"I said choose Steelix. I want to battle a Steel type with an Ice type."

Everyone excluding Raven dropped their jaws. Emi was looking at Forrest. "Well?"

"One question," as everyone turned to Raven. "Why?"

"To prove that even in battle, type disadvantage does not matter so long as the Trainer can come up with a plan to fight against the odds!" she exclaimed. Had anyone ever noticed, the man's smile had widened a bit.

"Meaning?" Forrest asked.

"Your drive to win. As long as you know the boundaries, you can overcome any obstacle." Raven said. "Simply put: Determination."

Everyone gave him a look that said, "Wow?"

Emi then shook out of the reverie and turned to Forrest. "Ready?"

"If it's a losing battle you want, it's a losing battle you'll get!"

"Whoever said _I_ was gonna lose?"

Brock, the judge of the battle watched the ball containing his old longtime Pokemon companion appear as Forrest and Emi drew out the Pokeball that contained her Pokemon.

"Go, Steelix!"

A rather huge steel snake appeared on the field, its red eyes enough to intimidate even the most bravest of Pokemon.

"Okay, time to show em' why I'm called Ice Blue!"

She threw the Pokeball with a kind of elegance that resembled that of a swan. Out of the Pokeball came out…

"A Spheal!?"

Tracey looked on nervously. "You're kidding me?"

Raven merely said nothing. "……"

Misty laughed. "Ahahaha, yeah right! You're challenging a powerful Steelix with _that_?"

Emi grinned. "Oh, you won't be laughing once I'm done. This match won't take long."

Everyone looked at her. "What did she say?"

"You can make the first move if you want, squinty eyes!" she said, as Forrest raised a brow but decided not to ask.

"_What makes her think that she can win? Then again, Spheal is a Water/Ice type and Steelix is a Steel/Ground type…" _Then it hit him!

"_Type advantage…? Sh-She tricked me!"_

_-_Kanto Gym Leader Battle theme-

"Whew, it's kinda warm in here! Let's start with cooling things off! Spheal, use Hail!"

As soon as she had said that, Spheal summoned a mighty hail, as Forrest did his best to withstand the cold and the ice pellets that seemed to hit the ground at a fairly brisk pace. Unlike everyone else, excluding Raven whom did not mind the pellets of ice hitting against his cloak, Emi seemed to not mind standing in the hail. Ash, surprised asked, "A-Aren't you cold?!"

She turned to him with a cute smile. "Oh, I'm used to it!"

"Steelix, use Slam on that Spheal!"

The huge steel snake quickly towered over the small round Water/Ice type before crashing down towards it! "Spheal, dodge it!"

The Pokemon easily moved out of the way, as Emi then pointed at Steelix. "Now, use Encore!"

Spheal began to clap his fins or whatever they are as Forrest shouted, "Use Iron Tail!"

But Steelix instead used Slam, Emi commanded her cute seal-like Pokemon to use Ice Beam on the Steel-type. The freezing beam didn't do that much damage but it was still powerful when Forrest suddenly remembered what Encore does! "_Argh, now I remember! Encore makes the Pokemon that has been effected use the same move for several turns! She's not just better than before, she IS better! _Keep trying to use Iron Tail!"

"Spheal, use Ice Ball!"

The cute round seal-like creature began to shoot out huge ice cubes at the steel dragon-like Pokemon but the attack was immediately halted by the Iron Tail attack! The glowing tail shattered the ice into pieces! "Finally! Now, time to show her that we're not that easy to beat!"

"I was wondering if you were even serious about battling me, kid? I hope you won't disappoint me as a Gym Leader!"

"Don't worry," as the second oldest of the Slate children grinned. "Just as long as you know what you're really up against! Steelix, use Dragonbreath!"

"Dodge it, Spheal!"

"Nice try, switch to a close-ranged Crunch attack!"

The harder-than-diamonds snake canceled the attack then lunged viciously at the cute, round, blue, seal-like Pokemon! The attack connected as Ash & co were shocked at how fast Steelix moved well except Raven. Even Emi was winded back a bit but she became even more determined not to mention was enjoying it even more!. Soon the Hail stopped as Forrest stopped shivering. He had been doing that for a while since the ice began to fall.

"Now that's what I like to see! C'mon Spheal, use Icy Wind!"

"WHAT!?"

A cold gust of chilly wind struck Steelix, as while the attack was not so powerful due to type disadvantage, Forrest actually saw it did some good damage all while lowering the Pokemon's ability to act faster.

"Aargh! Steelix, use Dragonbreath!"

"Dodge it, Spheal!"

The attack was easily avoided. Emi followed up with a Return attack, which was quite powerful, showing that she and Spheal shared such a powerful bond of friendship! Steelix slid a bit across the floor when the attack had connected.

"The powerful bond…of friendship!" the Ice Trainer said, spreading her arms open.

Misty tilted her head. "Bond of friendship?"

Emi waved to Ash. "Our love knows no bounds, Ashy! Now, to bring back the winter, use Hail, Spheal."

It began to Hail again as Forrest shivered a bit but ignored it.

"Y-Yeah, whatever. Use Rock Tomb, Steelix! _Now let's see how you can handle things without speed?"_

"Double Team!"

The attack missed. "No way!?"

There were sixteen clones of Spheal as now Ash & co were thoroughly impressed. Raven just looked on.

"Now use, Water Pulse!"

All the clones surrounding Steelix simultaneously unleashed a big watery orb at the Pokemon! They all ripped across the field, the power already shown by how damaging it was to the floor, tearing it apart with the sheer might of the attack's force.

"Now you're using a Water type attack!? Steelix, use Iron Tail to sweep them all!"

Brock was impressed. "_Expect the unexpected huh?"_

The steel snake did a 360 degree motion to all but one of the Pokemon as Forrest smirked at his assured victory at sight. Spheal was in the air and Pokemon that are not Flying types that are in the air are sitting Psyducks!

"Now, " he shouted, pointing at the exposed Pokemon. "Use Hyper Beam!"

"You know what do! Use Blizzard!" she shouted and since Hail was still going on, it couldn't miss even if it could.

The two powerful attacks connected at such a frightening pace, creating an explosion in the air. Ash & co were shielding themselves from the force of the tremors, while Brock was trying to see the outcome of the attacks.

Forrest was the first to see something, as his eyes widened. "But how…?"

The cute round blue seal-like creature was still standing! Emi grinned. "Blizzard."

Forrest knew that because of the effects of Hyper Beam, Steelix would be unable to move. But Blizzard would hit hard and with Steelix unable to move and also with his speed decreased, this battle, was already lost for him.

Spheal blew a mighty-looking chill of air at the Pokemon as in a matter of seconds, Steelix was struck, falling mightily to the field's floor. Brock knew that the match was already decided. He raised the green flag in his left hand.

"Steelix is unable to battle! This match's victory goes to Emilia-"

"You can call me Emi!" the girl said as Brock immediately smiled…weirdly.

"Emi Runes from Celestic Town in the Sinnoh region!" he shouted, before the flags were immediately dropped.

"Uh-oh, Brock's at it again?" Ash said, as the Breeder was holding the girl's hands in his.

"I'm so sorry my dear for not introducing myself to you earlier! My name is Brock, former Pewter City Gym Leader and an aspiring Master Breeder! But you can call me Romeo, Don Juan, Lothario, my dear sweet-!"

He didn't get a chance to finish before taking mighty blow to his gut.

"How about Mr. Take-a-Hike!?"

The boys winced at the power of her kick as Emi hugged Ash. "The only man in my life is right here!"

"H-H-Hey!"

Misty went to try to pry Ash out of the girl's hands but Emi wouldn't let go.

"Let go!"

"Not on my life!"

"Why me?"

Forrest looked nervously at the scene of the two tugging Ash back and forth. "H-Hey you two, you're gonna rip his arms out of their sockets!"

* * *

When asked to stay the night, Ash & co accepted the proposal. As night had fallen, a figure sat up in his bed. He was sweating like crazy due to a dream.

"Man…what a nightmare! I'll never eat pizza before going to bed again."

Brock looked around at the other boys. Tracey was turned on one side facing the wall while Raven was…Brock couldn't find him in bed at all.

"_Well, he is who he is, whoever he is?" _

Forrest and the other little brothers were sleeping finely as the older teen saw that Ash's bed was unoccupied, Pikachu still sleeping soundly at the base. The Breeder walked out of the room, carefully going down the hallways so as not to wake his parents, his little sisters, Misty and Emi up. When he reached the living room, he saw the chain to the door was down so he knew where the raven haired teen went.

Brock didn't have to travel far as he found Ash sitting beside a well at the top of the hill overlooking the Gym and city. "Couldn't sleep too huh?" the teen asked. Brock laughed nervously.

"Ahahahaha, no, it was the worst possible nightmare a guy like me could ever have. Anyways, why are you still up?" he asked, changing the subject. Ash gave him a look that meant, 'What kind of nightmare _did_ you have?'

"I'm guessing that you're out here cuz you couldn't sleep too huh?"

"I told you Ash, it was just a nightmare- huh, what's wrong?"

The teen looked up at the night sky and smiled. "Aah, it's nothing."

……

"So…have you told her yet?"

"Huh? Told who what?"

Brock sighed. "Oh boy, you're a tough one to figure out Ash!"

"What do you mean by that?"

Brock then shrugged. "Never mind. Make sure you don't stay up too late, Ash."

"Sure, Brock." he answered. Brock walked down the road back to his house/Gym while Ash sat against the well, secretly knowing what Brock meant.

* * *

When morning came, a certain crystal blue haired girl cheerily said, "GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!"

All eyes were on yesterday's winner as Emi went to sit right next to Ash. "Morning…Ash."

It was easy to see Misty seething as Brock served her and the rest of them and the Slate family pancakes, as Ash was quickly using this as an excuse to gorge himself. Tracey ate quietly, while Misty and Emi shot each other death glares and ate noisily, though not as noisy as Ash. Raven just ate his in the manner of a gentleman, taking his knife and fork and cutting the hotcakes into four or six equal parts and eating them. In short, breakfast was breakfast, with Ash being himself and Misty and Emi continuing to compete with each other. Brock looked on at the four then went back to his food. "……"

When the gang was all set and packed again, all of the Slates except for Brock stood at the door, bidding them farewell. "Come back any time!"

"Now Lola, you know that they have a schedule to keep." Flint said to his wife. Lola smiled.

"I know dear, by the way, where is Brock?"

Ash looked around. "Here's not here to see us off?"

"Well, he's not the one that's been staying in one place most of the time!" Misty and Tracey muttered, though Tracey was frowning a bit since he was supposed to be the one that's supposed to be that mad like this.

"That's good, that No-Eyes guy won't be coming with us."

Ash, Misty, and Tracey turned to her. "W-What!? He's a flirt, I don't like flirts!"

"Hypocrite." Misty muttered.

"What was that, you scrawny redhead!?"

"You heard me, you anorexic bluehead!"

"I am NOT anorexic, I am just simply…pretty and cute," as she narrowed her eyes. "Unlike you."

"Say that again, why don't you, you short, flirty, show-off!"

"Alright, I will!"

"Bring it on!"

Tracey was waving his hands at the two trying to calm them down while Ash just looked on nervously. Raven slung his bag over his shoulder. "We should get going. If we leave now, we should reach Cerulean City by sundown."

"If not, we could camp outside Mt. Moon."

Emi had hearts in her eyes. "A nice romantic night with my Ashy!"

"Hold yer horses, sister!" Misty countered.

As the four all said their goodbyes to the family, a lone figure watched from the road to exit Pewter City as they neared it. When they came closer, Ash recognized the figure. "Brock!?"

The Breeder grinned at the four. "Hey guys. Mind if I tag along?"

"But what about your family, Brock?" Misty asked. "Do they know?"

He nodded, shocking them, except Raven of course. "Yeah. Also, I can't let you four go off again without a cook and someone to…" as he put his arms around Ash and Misty. "Watch over these two…"

"Are you suggesting something Brock because unless you'd like to be sore in-between your legs, I'd advise you to not say anymore!"

"Uh…what she said?" Ash said, not able to come up with something as good as Misty's. Emi watched the three reacquaint with each other and frowned.

"Oh great, now the flirt's with us!"

"Sure is great to have you with us, Brock." Tracey said cheerfully.

"……"

The dark haired man glared at Brock, giving the Breeder the creeps and the goosebumps as he fixed his hat, tilting it over his left eye. "Let's go."

Everyone else nodded and before the five could step onto the road to Mt. Moon, a great figure emerged from the sky towards Ash! The figure was a man whom struck the boy hard with a punch that sent him into the ground.

"Aagh!"

"ASH!"

"What was that?!"

"Oh no, my Ash!"

"What kind of person are you, attacking our friend like that!?" Brock shouted.

"Wait…" Raven said, holding his arm out to keep them safe. Ash slowly got up, as his friends looked at him with worry. "Ash, are you fine?"

Ash stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth. "After getting jumped by some guy out of nowhere, who wouldn't!?" he said, chuckling. Misty looked at him, seeing through his sarcasm.

"Ash…"

"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you, kid." the mysterious man said. He was a great man, with flaming red hair that was combed up like spikes. He wore a burgundy red coat with no shirt under, showing his bare chest, with lighter burgundy red pants and black boots. His belt was black while the buckle was in the shape of a flaming skull. His face suggested he was around Raven's age, possibly a little older though he had a scar running across the middle of his nose and another on his bare chest, running from his left down to his right at the waist.

He wasn't alone though. With him was a dark green haired man, wearing a similar colored cloak that covered him completely except for his fearsome yellow eyes. The green haired man looked at the five.

"W-Who are they!?" Emi shouted.

The flame haired man smirked at Ash. "You're not going anywhere, kid!"

They all drew out their Pokeballs, ready to move him out of their way. The man laughed as he looked at the five.

"You guys wanna battle me?" as he drew out his Pokeball, which had a fire design on it. "Sure, why not? By the way, our names are Evers and Void. Sorry, nothing personal but we were ordered to get rid of you, Ash Ketchum!"

---

_Whew, finally, this chapter's finally done! As the end said, the fighting begins next chapter! I'll get started on that ASAP since I somehow do battle scenes at a better and quicker pace than dialogue! Anyways, R&R and yeah, Brock's back!_

**A/N: FINALLY! This is the last revision. Yes, the last of the last- well not technically the last but with this done, I can move on to start Ch. 7! I have 8, 9 and 10 planned out, well, the basic plot to them but yes, finally, the real battles begin! **


	7. Battle on Route 3

**A/N: Aah, finally an update. This better be worth it! Well, it's a guess on what I think you guys might be thinking? I mean, it's been since last fall I updated. Or was it summer? Meh, I forget. Anyways, this chapter is going to get really battle-crazy. I'm trying to not go for too much dialogue here and looks like there's still a number of dialogue (Would you rather have them all just stand around, grunting and yelling?) going on but I've tried my hardest on the battles here. Oh and speaking of battles, prepare for a rather intense chapter. Other than that, enjoy.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, its characters, plotline, games, or Pokémon. I do own the rights to this fic, its characters, plotline, and other things miscellaneous to it. From here on out, starting on this chapter with my fav. number, this disclaimer will apply to every other chapter after this. Or I could do it the cheap, easy way by copying and pasting this disclaimer to every chapter after this.

**Previously…**

"_Wh-Who are they!?" Emi shouted._

_The flame haired man smirked at Ash. "You're not going anywhere, kid!"_

_They all drew out their Pokeballs, ready to move him out of their way! The man laughed as he looked at the five._

_"You guys wanna battle me?" as he drew out his Pokeball, which had a fire design on it. "Sure, why not? By the way, our names are Evers and Void. Sorry, nothing personal but we were ordered to get rid of you, Ash Ketchum!"_

**Viridian Fall**

**Chapter 7: Battle on Route 3**

**Day 4, Week 1**

"G-Get rid of me?!"

The fiery haired man grinned. "Like I said, nothing personal. Hey, Void!"

The silent man looked at him. "……" Evers nodded to him.

"So this is the kid right?" he asked. "We do have the right one, right?"

The yellow eyed man's piercing gaze confirmed it for him. Evers turned back to the six. "Hehe, perfect, finally I can have some _real_ fun!"

"What're ya talking about? And just who are you guys?" Ash asked.

"Did Team Rocket hire two new people to hassle you again?" Misty asked him. Ash shook his head.

"No, Jessie, James and Meowth always were the three chasing me and Pikachu. But," he pointed at the two men. "I don't know who these guys are?!"

Evers smirked. "You don't know who we are? Hey, Void, these kids don't know who we are!" he called out to his partner. After he finished chuckling, the man turned to face the teens.

"What're you smiling about?" Emi asked.

"Void and me, we're not working for Team Rocket." as he threw his Pokeball at them. "And that's all you need to know!" he shouted.

Unbeknownst to the naked eye, a black blur caught the ball, keeping the containing Pokémon from being called out. Raven kept his grip on the Pokeball. "Evers, Void, why are you here?!" his voice boomed out loudly. The teens turned to face him.

"R-Raven?"

"Heh, are you going to interfere with the Lord's plans, Raven?" Evers asked, ignoring the Pokeball in Raven's hand. The dark haired man had a fierce look that sent shivers down the teens' spine. When he didn't answer, Evers shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, you just love to poke your head into other people's business?"

"I see your speech and manners have improved?" Raven asked.

"By the way, you didn't answer my question, Raven: Are you going to interfere with the Lord's plans?"

"So, Legato's really the one that sent you?" he said. Ash turned to him.

"Who's Legato?"

Raven ignored the question.

"What does Ash have to do with it?" he asked. Evers tilted his head.

"I don't know? His name is Ash?" he said, rubbing his chin. Raven just looked at him blankly. "It is, isn't it?"

"……"

When no more words were exchanged between the two, Evers went straight back to what his job. "Let's get this straight: The. Lord. Wants. You. Dead." he said, pointing at Ash. All of his friends froze in shock. Raven suddenly stood in front of Ash. "So, you really are going to interfere?" as he cracked his neck to awaken his nerves before throwing the Pokeball in his hand. "Then I'll have to get rid of you first, go, Magmortar!"

The ball opened, allowing the red light to materialize in front of them. There stood the recently discovered Pokémon from the Sinnoh region. It was five foot tall Pokemon, its appearance appearing to look like that of a burly and huge being though it had tri-pointed claws on the bottom of its arms and two spike-like toes. It still had the flame design like it's former though Ash and Brock remembered when they had ran into this type of Pokémon back in Sinnoh. It was as strong as an Electivire only it was a very powerful Fire type like it's Electric type counterpart. Evers saw the looks on their faces. "I know but…" as he grinned darkly. "This is no ordinary Magmortar."

Raven didn't answer him as he threw his Pokeball. "Let's go, Char!"

The ball soared into the air as it opened up, releasing a red dragon with wings and a flaming tail. It breathed powerful flames out of its mouth while adopting a mighty posture that made it seem intimidating. The Charizard raised his arms up, his claws gleaming as Raven held the ball that contained him. Evers grinned.

"So, it's a Fire fight you want?" he asked the man. Another ball came out into the sky, releasing yet another ferocious creature, Salamence. It landed next to Evers' Magmortar as Ash and his friends saw the owner, Void, holding the empty Pokeball. The boy wanted to help his friend. He prepared to throw out the Pokeball to help his friend.

"Go, Cyn- Huh?" as he saw that his hand was stopped by none other than the cloaked man. "Raven, w-what're you--"

"Everyone, get out of here, now." he said, letting go. Ash turned to him.

"What are you talking about? You can't take these two guys on your own!"

The dark haired man gripped the boy's shirt and pulled him in close. "I. Said. Get. Out. Of. Here." he worded harshly, throwing the boy back as he fell to the ground.

"Pikapi!"

"Ash! W-Why are you doing this Raven?!" she shouted. The man didn't turn to her. "Answer me!"

The man furiously whipped his head around to her. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID?! GET OUT OF HERE!"

Surprised by his angered tone, Misty stepped back. Raven turned his back to them. "Sorry, but you have to trust me. I'll be fine. You all need to get to Mt. Moon. We will hold them off." he said, as his Charizard let out a mighty roar to confirm the words. Ash got up as he looked at the man.

"Raven…"

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Ash, we should trust him." Brock said. The boy nodded as the five ran off towards the mountain. Evers caught them running away.

"Oi, I never said you could run off. Magmortar, cut off their path with Flamethrower!"

"Char, stop the attack with Air Slash!" Raven shouted. The dragon fired off the wind-slicing blast that cut into the stream of flames, completely cutting them off before the force of the two attacks caused an explosion. The teens continued to run, not looking to see if they were still being chased or not. Ash did his best to keep from shouting out to the man to confirm his safety as they disappeared into the mountain path. Back at the field, when the smoke had cleared, Raven pulled his hat up that shielded his eyes from the blast. "Evers, Void, you're both battling Char and I!" he said.

"Eh, they escaped?" as Void stepped forward. "You're going to go after them, Void?" he asked. Raven drew out another Pokeball but before he could call out his Pokémon. "Magmortar, use Fire Punch!"

The Blast Pokémon obeyed his Trainer's command and appeared in front of Raven, catching the man off his guard.

"Char, defend with Dragon Claw!"

The dragon rushed to his Trainer's aid, loyally protecting Raven from the fiery punch that neared him before Char pushed it back with his enflamed claws. Raven went back to calling out his second only to realize that someone was missing. "Void? Where did he go?" as he realized that the Fire Punch was a distraction. He heard the fiery-haired man laughing at his realization.

"Hahaha, don't be so disappointed, Raven. After all, I'm still here." he said. The dark haired man quickly braced himself. "Magmortar, attack his Charizard."

"Char, counter with Shadow Claw!" he shouted, as the ghostly claw formed in the red dragon's right arm before swiping at the Magmortar. But then the flaming punch changed to one brimming with electricity. "Thunder Punch? Char, dodge it!"

"Use Flamethrower!"

The dragon dodged the electric punch but was struck by the powerful streams of flames that shot out directly at his belly, causing him to fly back into his Trainer whom he crashed into as the two landed on the ground. Char slowly got back up as did Raven whom wiped the blood from his mouth. "Oh, now you're using your brain?" he asked.

* * *

Ash, Misty, Tracey, Emi, and Brock had found a place to rest and hide out. The teens were unable to comprehend what was going on. Ash knew he couldn't sit here and leave Raven behind. "You guys…I'm going back to help Raven."

Brock shook his head. "No, Ash. You can't go back there."

"B-But, he's battling two of them! You saw how powerful their Pokémon were?" he spoke. Tracey too shook his head.

"We know Ash but Raven said that he'd take care of them."

"_Can he hold them off long enough?" _Emi thought.

"Ash, Raven said to trust him. We have to trust that he'll protect us." Misty spoke up. Pikachu nodded.

"Pikapi Pika Pii Pikachu. (You should trust him, Ash.)"

The boy looked down. "I…"

"Ash, we have to keep moving." Brock said. The boy looked up at him and nodded.

The gang of formerly six now five left the temporary shelter and continued east towards Mt. Moon and its nearby Pokémon Center. Ash, Misty, Brock, Tracey and Emi, with Brock in the lead, carefully crossed the rugged mountain paths, watching for falling and loose rocks. They came across a narrow path on which they would have to sidle their way across to the other side.

"Once we get to the Pokémon Center, we'll rest there for the night before moving on." Brock said.

"I can't wait to stop to have dinner." Tracey said. He didn't notice the look he earned from Ash whom was still thinking about the dark haired man. Misty, worried about her best friend, felt the rock loosely moving from under her foot as she slipped.

"AAAAAHHH!"

A hand reached out and caught her arm. Ash was doing his best hold on. Their friends could only watch as the boy used his upper body strength to pull her back up. She slowly came back up and into his chest before faint blushes appeared on both of their cheeks as Misty carefully got her feet back on as they all finished crossing the narrow path before getting back on the main path again. Ash turned to the ginger haired girl. "Mist, you okay?"

She nodded. "Y-Yeah. Thanks…Ash." she said. The boy nodded back.

* * *

The green cloaked man left as soon as Raven was distracted by the Fire Punch, secretly following the teens up the mountain trail. His yellow eyes watched them, keeping out of their sight, closely trailing them. He saw the event of Misty's fall and Ash helping her back up along with noticing the brief stillness of their bodies while continuing to follow them up to the Center. But he did not get far. As he was prepared to round a corner to follow them, a man wearing a ragged cloak appeared before him. What was interesting to note was that he was the same man with the grayish hair that obscured his eyes. He had a Pokeball drawn out to Void. "No passage." he said.

* * *

They were nearing the mountain's cave and the Pokémon Center. Brock ran far ahead of the five. "I'm coming for you, Joy!" he sang. Misty sighed. She was too tired to stop him. The rest of the gang followed after him.

It wasn't long before they found their flirtatious Breeder on his hands and knees before a girl. She had brilliant red hair and was dressed in a burgundy uniform. She wore a dark red buttoned shirt with a similar long coat and long dark red pants with black gloves and boots. On the left side of her coat, on the heart, was an 'E' emblem designed intricately in a bright red. Her hair was tied down below to her neck. She watched Ash and his friends run towards Brock. Misty turned to face the young woman. "What did you do to him?!"

The girl frowned before smirking. "Is he your friend?" she asked.

"Brock, you okay?" Ash asked. The Breeder did not answer him. The raven haired teen stood up and turned to face the girl. The red haired girl peered over Misty's shoulder and saw the raven haired boy glaring at her.

"What is it? You want to battle me?" she replied, returning the glare with the same intensity. Then she paused. The gang watched as she rummaged through her coat before pulling out a piece of paper. This was no ordinary paper though. She glanced at it before looking up at Ash. "Oh, you're that kid, Ketchum, right?" she asked.

"Who are you? What did you do to Brock?"

The girl gave him and his friends a look. "You don't know?" When she didn't get an answer, "Oh great, now I have to introduce myself again." as she drew out a Pokeball, enlarging in with her right arm stretched out. "I'm Scarlet Red, the Fire Lieutenant under General Evers, the Fire Executioner. As for your friend, he wouldn't leave me alone."

"So you beat him?"

"No, his Pokémon did." she answered as Ash and Pikachu sighed.

"That makes sense?"

Emi raised a brow. "Executioner?" as she saw the 'E' emblem on her coat. She turned to Ash. "Ash, we have to pass her."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know. You guys, go on ahead." as a pair of cerulean eyes turned to him.

"Ash! Y-You're not planning on-"

"Wanna play the hero do you?" Scarlet asked. Ash turned to face her. She was leaning her back against the nearby wall and she was also blocking their path. Her Pokeball was in her hand. Ash turned to look back at his friends.

"Just go, I'll be fine!" he said. Hesitating for a moment, Misty nodded as she, Tracey, and Emi with Tracey dragging Brock along, ran ahead, passing Scarlet who made no move to stop them. The girl watched the Trainer and his Pikachu standing before her.

"Ahahaha, you really think you can beat me, Ketchum?"

"I'm going to protect my friends."

She scoffed. "Just like that man back there?" she asked, ignoring the boy's face. "He doesn't stand a chance against the General." she said, pacing towards him, her hands at her sides. "You got lucky with escaping from the General but," as she threw her Pokeball and called out a familiar looking Fire-type with a flame-like body. "Your luck's run out." It had a tail with fire burning at its end as it punched its fists together. The Magmar stood beside Scarlet as the girl, whom was a little over Ash's age put the ball away within her coat. Ash took a close look at the Fire-type.

"A Magmar huh?" as he wasted no time in calling out his own Fire-type. "Let's go, Cyndaquil!"

Scarlet looked on at the materialization of the small fire mouse Pokémon as she smiled. "This shouldn't take too long. Magmar, use Fire Punch on that fire rodent!"

Magmar rushed towards Cyndaquil with a flaming fist. "Dodge it and use Swift!"

The fire mouse moved to the left, missing the attack closely before launching a barrage of stars that struck the Spitfire Pokémon intensely, already hitting its weak point. Scarlet ordered another attack after directing her arm to the right.

"Use Mega Punch and follow it up with Fire Punch!"

Recovering quickly from the attack, the Fire-type moved quickly towards the fire mouse. Ash called out Flame Wheel as Cyndaquil leaped into the air, rolling in the sky, enveloping himself in flames from his back. Magmar led off with a mighty punch from the right, which Cyndaquil dodged before following it up with the fiery punch that struck true, knocking Cyndaquil into the nearby rock wall on the side of the path. The mouse fell as Ash called out to him.

"Cyndaquil, are you okay?"

"Quiiil!" came his reply. Ash directed another attack.

"Okay, let's use Quick Attack!"

The fire mouse began to move at quick speed, moving straight towards Magmar. Scarlet stood in place. "Magmar, wait right there and use Fire Blast when it gets close enough towards you." as the Pokémon nodded. Cyndaquil came directly in front of Magmar as the Spitfire Pokémon used the aforementioned mighty blast of fire. All seemed lost for the fire mouse until his Trainer called out to him.

"Cyndaquil, use Double Team!"

The mouse quickly created false duplicates of himself. Fire Blast hit one of the clones but the real deal hovered above Magmar. "What?"

"Okay, now use Flamethrower!" Ash shouted. The Spitfire Pokémon became enveloped in flames and at such a close range, taking intense damage. Scarlet gritted her teeth.

"That's really annoying. Magmar, use Confuse Ray!"

"Cyndaquill, dodge it!"

The fire mouse did not move in time and was struck by the phantom-like rays. Cyndaquil lost sense of friend and foe and self as Ash called out an attack. "C-Cyndaquil, try to use Quick Attack on Magmar!"

The mouse instead struck himself. Scarlet smirked. "Too bad, looks like I win? Magmar, finish it off with Focus Punch!" she shouted. The Pokémon's fist began to glow white, preparing to strike and finish the fire mouse off.

"Cyndaquil, use Quick Attack!" Ash shouted, hoping the attack would connect. Cyndaquil heard the boy's voice and began to move at such a quick speed that the attack connected, knocking Magmar out of its concentration and freezing it momentarily because of Focus Punch's side effect. Scarlet turned to her Magmar.

"Magmar?"

Ash smiled. "Great job, Cyndaquil!"

"Pii Pikachu!"

"Cyn Da Cyndaquil." as right after the three were finished cheering, the fire mouse glowed white before becoming enveloped in the bright white light. Scarlet's eyes widened.

"I-It's…"

"Cyndaquil's evolving?" Ash said, watching the transformation becoming complete. What stood before him now was Quilava. His fiery mane and tail blazed ever so strongly. Ash smiled at what Cyndaquil had become. "You evolved into Quilava!"

"Qui, Quilava." as he turned to face the Magmar. Scarlet clenched her fist tightly.

"Just because your Pokémon evolved doesn't mean that things are any easier! Magmar, use Flamethrower!" as she watched the Pokémon…not move. Ash quickly too his chance to finish off Magmar.

"Okay, let's use Flame Wheel, Quilava!" he shouted. The Volcano Pokémon began to roll across the ground, already surrounded by flames before striking Magmar deeply in the gut, sending the Pokémon hurtling across the ground. Scarlet checked to see if her Magmar was okay only to find that it was unconscious. Bitter, she called it back.

"You may have won this round but you won't win this next one!" as she drew out another Pokeball. "Go, Arcanine!"

A magnificent yet fierce looking canine with orange and beige fur and black patterns stood before them. Ash and Pikachu watched the Arcanine crouched on all fours, ready for a battle. Ash gave a nod to his best Pokepal as the yellow mouse ran to take Quilava's place as the teen called back the newly evolved Pokémon. Scarlet pointed at Ash.

"You don't stand a chance against Arcanine and I. Together, we're unbeatable!"

Remembering Brock's defeat, Ash looked at her intensely. "You won't get away with what you did to Brock! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"I'll show you _real_ speed! Arcanine, use Extremespeed!"

Pikachu quickly led off with blinding speed towards the dog-like Pokémon but was quickly knocked back across the ground by the more faster Pokémon. "Aah! Pikachu!"

The yellow mouse got back up. Scarlet pointed at the mouse. "Use Flamethrower."

Ash quickly had Pikachu counterattack with Thunderbolt. The two Pokémon's attacks of Electric and Fire clashed powerfully against each other, causing a rumble along the mountain trails. The grayish haired man and Void sensed the tremors as the two called back their Pokémon while avoiding the rockslides that were occurring. Down on the path to the mountain, Raven and Evers raced along the trail of Route 3, dodging and stepping over the cracks, rocks, and the craters that were created by their Charizard and Magmortar respectively along with the rockslides that seemed to come in numbers.

When the shaking ceased, Ash and Scarlet resumed their battle. "Arcanine, use Flare Blitz!"

The Fire-type dog surrounded itself in a vast barrier of flame. and began to charge towards Pikachu. "Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!" Ash shouted as the electric mouse too charged up his own Electric attack, surrounding himself in his own barrier of electricity before charging forward towards the oncoming barrier of flame. The two Trainers watched their Pokémon clash with each other, causing yet another massive tremor, this one so much more intensifying and colossal that it shook the entire area of the mountain, including the mountain cave itself, scaring the cave's inhabitants. Nurse Joy lost her balance as she stumbled forward. Brock ran to catch her yet she was caught by a man with messy long brown hair that was let down, jade-colored eyes, wearing a dark green coat with no shirt underneath and matching pants and brown boots. Immensely red in the face by how close they were, Joy muttered a petite 'thank you' to him. He helped her back up.

"Don't mention it." as he turned to face the door. Joy watched the man walking out of the Center.

"W-Wait, don't go out there! It's dangerous!" she called out. The man didn't listen as the automatic doors closed as the red haired nurse looked down, hoping that he would be careful. Brock sulked as Misty looked at the door through which the man had left through.

"Ash…please, come back safely."

Meanwhile, both electric mouse and fire dog were exchanging attacks of lightning and fire with their respectful Trainers doing their best to avoid the fatal cracks and rockslides that were being caused by the devastating attacks. Ash dove behind a rock to shield himself from the Flamethrower directed at him while Pikachu defended him from the front. Scarlet ordered an Extremespeed attack as Ash had Pikachu deflect it with Iron Tail.

"Pikachu, use Iron Tail again!"

"Arcanine, use your Iron Tail too!" Scarlet shouted. The fire dog countered with its glowing tail as both Pokémon were once again tied as they leapt back to the side of their respectful Trainer. Arcanine had bruises and injuries incurred from Pikachu's Electric attacks and vice versa with the mouse. Even the Trainers were exhausted though Ash had taken some burns from the Flamethrowers directed at him. Scarlet's uniform was dirty and slightly tattered as the girl looked directly across at the boy. "You and your Pikachu are pretty good?"

Ash grinned weakly. "Heh, the same with you and Arcanine."

"Too bad, that I have to take you down."

"Yeah, but I'm not going down that easily."

The two Trainers and their Pokémon faced each other off for one last attack.

"Pikachu, let's finish this with Volt Tackle!"

"Arcanine, end this with Flare Blitz!"

Once again, the respective Pokémon donned their veils of electricity and flame as they charged straight at each other, ripping across the ground before meeting head-on and creating a mighty explosion that enveloped the whole area in a dome of lightning and fire. Debris flew everywhere as Trainer and Pokémon were knocked aside by the sheer force of the shocks that came. Ash saw the rocks coming quickly down towards the girl as he ran towards her and shoved her out of the way, leaving his enemy confused by his actions, taking the rocks in her place before he lost consciousness along with Pikachu, held tightly in his arms. Both Trainer and Pokémon neared the edge of the mountain trail, which cracked apart and began to form a huge landslide that tumbled down the gap that was once the ground that the two Trainers once stood on. Scarlet, too weak to run, crawled over to her Pokémon and pulled Arcanine close, the ground beneath them crumbling as well. The land gave away, bringing the two Trainers and their Pokémon with it. As they fell to their supposed deaths, two blurs quickly caught them and the third teleported Arcanine out of the falling zone. Their rescuers took them to a higher level of the mountain. There, the brown haired man set the unconscious Scarlet on the ground while the grayish haired man's Xatu had used Teleport to transport the unconscious Arcanine over to her side. Then he and the brown haired man turned to the dark haired man whom thanked the two before leaving them behind and flying the unconscious Ash and Pikachu to the Mt. Moon Pokémon Center…

* * *

The clock ticked by as Misty sat in her chair, overlooking her recovering friend. Ash had taken massive damage from the battle and the explosions that occurred and had been in bed for a while. Pikachu was with her, looking sadly down at his Trainer and friend. Outside the room, Brock, Tracey and Emi sat in the chairs or stood around, hoping to get news that the boy recovered. Raven, whom had saved the Trainer and Pikachu with Char and Krow respectfully. Scarlet was rescued by the brown haired man in green and Arcanine was teleported to safety by the Xatu of the grayish haired man. He did not tell them about the two though as they would disapprove of his saving an enemy. The dark haired man had come out of his battle with Evers with scratches and burns but nothing major as he stood leaning his back against the wall between the door and the window through to which the room Misty was in. Already, five days had passed since the battles on Route 3 yet even after reaching their rest point, they could not move until Ash was feeling well. They were lucky to have met a Nurse Joy who was not only a doctor for Pokémon but humans as well. Coincidence or not, the five teens and their Pokémon would not forget their meeting with the Executioners as Raven had told them of. Little did they know, this meeting was only the beginning to what lay in store for Kanto…

---

**A/N: And that's a wrap! Wow…the longest damn chapter I've ever written so far and in one day too?! I think this one turned out better than I planned though I did not plan for the middle fight. Having to work with a battle and a half (Raven's was cut-off and shown again in a slight bit) and adding two new, no three new faces though one of them is already recognizable, was pretty hard but it all came up as I typed though it was a GOOD thing I had an outline of what was to come. Oh yes, the Pokémon attack Trainers here. Remember the battle Ash and Misty had with Cassidy and Butch? Yeah, I'm going that route! No more goodie-goodie safe battles where the Trainers themselves just stand around doing nothing (I hate those with a passion). This is what I like and prefer that it should be: Both Pokémon AND Trainer fighting their hardest and taking their hits. This was slightly dark, with the 'falling to their deaths'. Hey, anyone will die if they fall off a cliff from high up! Yeah, I know Route 3's layout but c'mon, Mt. Moon: It's near the dang Pokémon Center and I preferred that they travel up the mountain path to get to their destination. Oh yes, they lost five days because of Ash's serious injuries. If you got struck by Flamethrowers aimed at YOU while trying to dodge them from some girl working for an organization sent to kill you AND getting struck by the continuous tremors saving your enemy (you crazy?!) from a rockslide before falling unconscious and off the cliff of a destroyed mountain path, well, okay so it'd take long than five days maybe a week but let's see next chapter if Ash recovers. Oh and don't forget to review! I must hear from you so I can know if I did good, bad, or went overboard with this chapter. Believe me though…all the stuff that happened here, it was all in my outline though there were some things that were added at the spur-of-the-moment. Nothing big though, just little scenes here and there. Again, review: I must hear from you, fellow readers and writers.**


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